WES Engineering installed Literacy Network's Racking System

Literacy Network of Dane County

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LOCATION: Madison, Wisconsin  |  CAPACITY: 19 kW  |  PROJECT COMPLETED: December 2018

SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
Logo_WES Engineering

 

 

 

Founded in 1974, the Literacy Network teaches reading, writing, communication and computer skills to approximately 1,000 low-income Dane County adults each year (90% are people of color; 67% are women). A staff of 28 and nearly 900 annual volunteers help participants achieve financial security, well-being and deeper engagement with their families and the community.

In fall 2016, after renting for more than 40 years, Literacy Network purchased and renovated the building at 701 Dane Street, with nearly four times more space than their previous location.

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Solar panels on Art Ventures Retreat Center at Bethel Horizons, Dodgeville

Bethel Horizons

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LOCATION: Dodgeville, Wisconsin  |  CAPACITY: 40 kW  |  COMPLETION DATE: October 2018

SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
Logo_WES Engineering

 

 

 

 

The Prairie Center and the Venture Arts Retreat Center will each be generating about 50% of their own power.

Bethel Horizons is located on more than 548 acres bordering Governor Dodge State Park. Our mission is to develop and perpetuate a physical, social, intellectual, and spiritual environment which will strengthen and enhance the understanding of a person’s proper relation to nature, to self, to others and to God.”

(From Solar for Good grant)

Horizons is affiliated with Bethel Lutheran Church, Madison, Wisconsin and Lutheran Outdoor Ministries, an association of ELCA camps across the country.

Installing a solar energy solution fits perfectly into our general mission and our goal of Caring for Creation. As we strive to foster a better understanding of nature, it not only will help us be better stewards of our financial resources, it will allow an educational opportunity for the many thousands of visitors to our facility. We have a full time environmental educator on staff that will be able to incorporate the use of solar energy first hand into our programs.

Project Impact

This project will directly impact the populations Bethel Horizons serves. During the summer program, 65% of our campers receive some form of financial assistance to attend camp. This project will provide a unique opportunity for Bethel Horizons to expose our youth to this technology to help them understand how it works and the positive impact that it has on our environment. In addition, being in rural Wisconsin, this project can serve as an example for other rural entities about how realistic a project like this could be for their facilities.

Publicity and Education: Bethel Horizons would see this solar array as a way for us to educate others about the importance of renewable energy projects like this one. With a full time Environmental Education Director, Bethel Horizons will be able to develop sustainable programming that can be shared with groups that we serve. In addition, Bethel Horizons would be open to having an event that highlights this project for the general public. We would do this in conjunction with those who have helped us to manage this project.

Member WES Engineering of Madison will be installing this project that will cover 2 buildings with 20 kilowatts each. The Prairie Center and the Venture Arts Retreat Center will each be generating about 50% of their own power for their electrical needs at these two sites.  Our Co-op will be making $25,000 in loans to this project.

Christ Lutheran Church Spring Green: View from the Road

Christ Lutheran Church of Spring Green

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LOCATION: Spring Green, Wisconsin   |   CAPACITY: 18 kW   |   COMPLETION DATE: December 2018
SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
Logo_WES Engineering

 

 

 

Christ Lutheran Church has served the Spring Green, WI community for 135 years. In 2018, the co-op began planning another phase of their history: generating power from the sun. The resulting project should generate roughly 60% of the church’s electricity and set a great example of environmental stewardship for the community and for other congregations. Read more

First Unitarian Society of Madison

First Unitarian Society (FUS) of Madison

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LOCATION: Madison, Wisconsin   |   CAPACITY: 83 kW   |   COMPLETION DATE: October 2019
SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
Full Spectrum Solar logo

 

The First Unitarian Society (FUS) of Madison is a community of spiritual and ethical seekers that inhabits a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. FUS is one of the largest Unitarian Universalist congregations in the United States, totaling over 1,400 members.

The Story

Over the years, FUS staff and board, the Sustainability Ministry Team, with the support of the FUS community, have developed a sustainable, carbon neutral vision, which now includes a 83kW solar panel system that was added to its campus in October of 2019. The new array was placed on the flat-roofed portions of FUS and outside the green roof on the Atrium addition and has the capacity to generate about 90,000 kW-hours of electricity annually – more than a quarter of the electricity it consumes, or about nine average-sized U.S. homes worth of energy. The system, designed by Full Spectrum Solar, maximizes the energy the building can generate with the roof space available.

The solar project is a major step toward the ministry team’s sustainability goals. Together with the solar project, the efficiency improvements will save money and get FUS toward the team’s goal of carbon net neutrality or better. FUS hopes its efforts will inspire its members to be more sustainable themselves.

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Camp Shalom (Jewish Federation of Madison) Solar System2018

Camp Shalom Youth Center (Jewish Federation of Madison)

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LOCATION: Verona, Wisconsin  |  CAPACITY: 10.8 kW  |  START DATE: December 2018

SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
Midwest Solar Power

 

 

 

Camp Shalom has been in operation since 1954, making it the oldest (and its the largest) day camp in Dane County. Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Madison and residing within the Goodman Jewish Community Center, it, along with Camp Shalom Noar-Bogrim, which has educational and engaging programming from 6-9 grades, serves over 1,000 children at its beautiful location in rural Town of Verona. Camp Shalom has a track record of never denying a child a camp experience because of financial need.

The Goodman Jewish Community Center has long had a commitment to sustainability. Legacy Solar Co-op was happy to expand the Federation’s sustainability goals by adding a photovoltaic electric, roof-mounted system on the roof of a smaller building behind the main camp structure, as well as the pergola in front of the building.

The system, which consists of 72 cell mono-crystalline solar modules, will produce a minimum of 12,000kWh annually, or about 40% of their energy usage. After 25 years, the system is still expected to produce at least 80% of current, installed capacity. This project lowers the camp’s utility bills making more money available for outreach to families in need and summer programming and camping experiences for our youth.

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Todd Lund Wires Up Oregon Ice Arena Rooftop

Oregon Ice Arena

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LOCATION: Oregon, Wisconsin  |  CAPACITY: 190 kW  |  COMPLETED: December 2018

SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
Full Spectrum Solar logo

 

The Oregon Ice Arena is a non-profit 501(c)(3) facility in Oregon, WI. with the mission of providing the best ice skating experience possible by maintaining a clean and safe environment for all ages.

Ice arenas have to operate heat pumps every day of the year in order to keep the air temperature near the ice as close to freezing as possible. The hottest days of the year take the most compressor activity so not only will this array use the sun’s energy to lower the arena’s electric use, the fact that the solar array takes up over 12,500 square-feet of south-facing roof means that it also shades the roof from the sun. Read more

Exeland Senior Housing, part of Sawyer County Housing Authority2018

Sawyer County Housing Authority

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LOCATION: Hayward, Radisson, Winter & Exeland, Wisconsin
CAPACITY: 153 kW (total over 6 sites)
COMPLETION DATE: November 2018
SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
Logo_Carlson Electric

 

 

Since the early 1970s, Sawyer County Housing Authority (SCHA), located in northwest Wisconsin, has had a mission of providing safe, affordable housing for families with low and moderate incomes. Their Rural Development program consists of two- and three-bedroom units in the towns of Hayward, Radisson, Winter and Exeland for families eligible for rental assistance. There is also a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program which provides rental assistance to qualifying families that rent through private landlords.

“We (SCHA) are all very excited about the project as well as our staff and board of commissioners who are eager to see the savings in electrical costs as well as the reduction in our carbon footprint.

– Sheila Young, Executive Director of SCHA

Legacy Solar Co-op partnered with Carlson Electric to install solar arrays on 6 separate buildings, including 52 families in the Hayward, WI area. Sites include:

  • Radmore Village in Radisson (33.32kW)
  • Winmore Village in Winter (29.24kW)
  • Stone Lake Senior Housing in Stone Lake (10.88 kW)
  • Exeland Senior Housing in Exeland (12.24 kW)
  • Plainview Village in Exeland (21.08 kW)
  • Vista Village in Hayward (46.24 kW)

Read more

General Beverage Northwest, Inc. Chippewa Falls Building

General Beer Northwest, Inc.

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LOCATION: Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin   |   CAPACITY: 243 kW   |   COMPLETION DATE: October 2018
SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
Midwest Solar Power

 

 

General Beverage Companies (GB) is one of the largest wholesale distributors of wine, distilled spirits, beer and non-alcoholic beverages in Wisconsin. It is the only beverage wholesaler in the state to honor their union employee contracts and fair pay, family-supporting wages and construction contracts.  In Chippewa County, GB Northwest has 50 employees, and they’ve set an even higher bar, as responsible, corporate stewards of the Wisconsin environment. Read more

2018

VFW Post 8483 (Truax Longmire)

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LOCATION: Madison, Wisconsin   |   CAPACITY: 40 kW   |   COMPLETED: December 2018
SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
Midwest Solar Power

 

 

 

The mission of VFW’s across the country are to provide support and a sense of community to veterans of all ages, however chapters across the country are receiving less funding to provide this support. In response, the Truax-Longmire VFW Post 8483 (one of two VFWs in Madison) organized and made plans to improve the environment and lower its operating expenses by producing most of its energy onsite. Read more

City of Beaver Dam

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LOCATION: Beaver Dam, Wisconsin   |   CAPACITY: 106.3 kW   |   COMPLETION DATE: October 2018
SOLAR CONTRACTOR:
North Wind Renewable Energy

 

 

The City of Beaver Dam hired Legacy Solar Co-op to work with (member) North Wind Renewable Energy Cooperative and (member) E3 Lighting to construct a sizable solar array on the city hall and perform over $31,000 in LED lighting retrofits for the City this fall. The city had announced their hope in a July 27, 2018 article.

The system consists of Teir one Hawha QCells 345 watt modules, totaling 106.3 kW, and are expected to save the city more than $4,000/year in energy costs. This project was planned as part of the city’s plan to generate 25% of its energy renewably by 2025 along with its partnership with the Office of Energy Innovation as an “Energy Independent Community”.

How was this project possible? Read about our consulting services.

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