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. Thanks in part to a Solar for Good grant and a loan from Legacy Solar Co-op, solar power was also in their future. The new solar array consists of multiple sub-arrays, allowing Literacy Network to generate electricity to power the facility for afternoons and early evenings when they have classes. Once the system is paid off, the array is expected reduce imported MGE electricity by about 25% and save over $3,000 per year. This equates to a full semester of one-on-one tutoring for a class! Read more

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

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Project Updates

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Legacy Solar Co-op Team, 12/20/19

Legacy Solar Co-op’s solar bond program provides financing to help pay for up-front costs. The following projects are well on their way, but some still need your support to be completed.

A few ways to get involved:

  • Purchase solar bonds: Available in increments of $250, help support this project by purchasing bonds and earn up to 5% interest yearly. Only LSC members are eligible to buy bonds. Join today!
  • Become a tax sponsor: Provide the major sponsorship needed to make these projects happen. If you are interested or have questions, please reach out to us by contacting info@legacysolarcoop.org.

Some of our current projects:

  • Lakeview Lutheran Church (Madison) — A congregation serving Madison for over 150 years. We provided a solar assessment for this roughly 20-30 kW project.
  • Solon Springs School District (Solon Springs)— Located in Douglas County (northwest Wisconsin), this school district will soon benefit from a solar array with up to 100 kW capacity. Early winter delayed project completion into 2020, but we eagerly anticipation spring solar power for Solon Springs. 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.

Read more

Drone view

Project Updates

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Legacy Solar Co-op Team, 10/10/19

First Unitarian Society Rooftop

First Unitarian Society Rooftop

The First Unitarian Society in Madison is hosting a ribbon-cutting on October 13 (at 12:30pm) to commemorate their new rooftop solar system (installed by Full Spectrum Solar), which, combined with energy-efficiency measures, will reduce their electricity demand from the grid by more than half. Read more about this project.

Blackhawk Church Fitchburg‘s system was switched on in September – Installation by H&H Electric.

  • Humane Society of Burnett County (HSBC) launched their new system with a ribbon cutting on September 29, the largest solar array in Burnett County! Installation by Carlson Electric. Read more.
  • Solon Springs School District is being installed in October. Installation by Carlson Electric.
  • St. John’s Lutheran Church in Oregon voted overwhelmingly to install within the next six months.
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.

Read more

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