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There are several resources
for which we provide web links to their excellent organizations, and
which may have deeper materials than we can provide. We have annotated
each source to help focus your query.
First is the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, www.nrel.gov
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has a clickable section on
their web page for research and technology. They provide a national
renewable energy research base for photovoltaics, renewable energy resources
in general, transportation, developing alternative fuel vehicles and
related technologies, wind energy, and building and thermal systems,
as well as other more esoteric items. They also operate a news and events
list for further information. Their renewable resource data center has a list of solar radiation resource information and wind energy resource
information as well as dynamic maps and GIS data, which include Alaska
databases.
Another excellent national resource is the energy efficiency and renewable
energy network of the US Department of Energy. Their website is: www.eere.energy.gov/.
They specialize in renewable energy and energy efficiency in buildings
and transportation as well as the electric power industry. (also see their teacher resources, as they have a special section on kids, consumers,
ask an energy expert, newsletter subscriptions, and education in general).
Another excellent site with a great deal of information is the American
Solar Energy Society website: www.ases.org
They have a series of clickable information resources, conference lists,
and an annual American Solar Energy's national tour of solar
homes. Particularly useful is their solar guide, which is a resource
for solar energy, a fact base, and web links to other renewable energy
sites. Their fact base is especially rich.
A related site, which is also very good, is the International Solar Energy
Society: www.ises.org.
The International Solar Energy Society runs as a service, the worldwide information system for renewable energy (WIRE), which
publishes a newsletter and updates it every two weeks. Particularly
interesting in their RE information desk is a program called RESuM,
the Rural Energy Supply Models information. It's a compilation of definitions,
characteristics, models, specific advantages, problems, and success
factors for different rural energy supply models, illustrated with real
world examples. This seems to be perfectly attuned to the interests
of Alaska.
Another interesting website for passive solar design and low energy
architecture is: www.sbicouncil.org/.
This is the location of the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council,
which has guidelines and software for designing low energy buildings,
using an international program called Energy-10. These are resources
for architects, builders, utilities, and energy officials. They also
sponsor workshops, education, and training, and are also listed under
the teacher resources.
A huge and very active national website is the Rocky Mountain Institute
website: www.rmi.org.
Many of the items regarding energy are not specific to renewables, but
generally deal with energy policy and integrating energy into the rest
of the commercial, industrial, and community contexts. There is a clickable
item on renewable energy, however; as in many of the other sites,
it discusses what you'll need to do to make yourself energy efficient.
This site uses a very holistic approach and is excellent for that
purpose. In the renewable energy section it describes the concern of
costs of renewables. Since renewable energy technologies are relatively
expensive, you need to be able to manage with a smaller, cheaper setup.
An energy efficient home and appliances should be your first step to
getting to a sustainable world and a renewable lifestyle. Once you have
done that, you'll need to decide which renewable technologies make sense
for your climate, your lifestyle, and your financial
situation. There's also a discussion of the technologies for passive
solar design, solar water heating, photovoltaics, wind power, and microhydro.
Homepower has a vastly deep and excellent website with a magazine that is absolutely top-of-line and the best in the field: www.homepower.com/
This link,
www.clean-power.com/research.htm, contains several PV articles relevant
to rural electric cooperatives regarding net metering. Particular items
of interest include: "The Market for Photovoltaics in New Homes
Using Micro-Grids" by Herig and Hoff; "The Potential Market
for Photovoltaics and Other Distributed Resources in Rural Electric
Cooperatives"; and "An Historic Opportunity for Photovoltaics
and Other Distributed Resources in Rural Electric Cooperatives."
Greening the National Park
Service: www.nps.gov/renew/doe.htm.
FEMP, the Federal Energy Management Program is the National Park Services
primary partner in promoting and implementing energy efficiency, sustainable
practices and renewable applications across the service.
The University of New South
Wales, Sydney, Australia, Faculty of the Built Environment, The National
Solar Architecture Research Unit's Sustainability Information. www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/units/solarch-old/sustaininfo.htm. This is one of the best page sources of information for solar options
of all sorts which I have ever found. A great resource.
An excellent solar website from our
neighbors to the north is Solar
Energy Society of Canada Inc.
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