Tour offers look at advances in solar energy

Solar power is on the move. It even has its own tour.

The National Solar Tour will be at Kellogg Community College’s Regional Manufacturing Technology Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 2.

The tech center at 405 Hill Brady Road in Battle Creek is one of 10 points of interest on the self-guided tour across Southwest Michigan. The public is invited to take in as many of the sites as possible.

Patriot Solar, an Albion-based business, also will be at KCC with its portable energy generation system. It uses solar panels to generate energy.

The tour is put together by the The Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association.
 
Other spots along the tour include:

• Bober Home, 27621 County Road, Lawton. The home built in 1989 features a passive solar design.

• Fluid Process Equipment, WMU’s Business Technology and Research Park, 4797 Campus Dr., Kalamazoo. The building at the Western Michigan University’s Business Technology and Research park features a system using Solon Blue panels.

• Hastings Public Library, 227 E. State St. Hastings. The LEED Gold Library is equipped a rain garden, super-insulated windows with light shelves, super-insulated walls, vegetative roofs, and a photovoltaic solar array.

• Kildea/Poirer Home, 6645 W. R Avenue, Schoolcraft. It features a solar electric system that powers the owner’s truck and  and part of the home’s geothermal system.

• Sunflower Farm, 25485 County Road 681, Bangor. The solar house was built in 2002. The farm has two Whisper 200 turbines and a photovoltaic assembly for electric power.

• Marcotte Home 4749 S M-43 Highway, Hastings. This home features a Skystream 3.7 wind generator that provides the home with 25 percent of its power. A geothermal system uses the earth’s energy to provide heating and cooling to the home.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Samantha Keeney, Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association