Solar States Blog

Solar States is at it again! With students at the Science Leadership Academy finishing up another great semester of solar design and photovoltaic research, we thought long and hard about what our next step should be in bringing solar education and industry to the Philadelphia area. But in the end, it came down to one simple question: what comes after high school?

College. And in college, the first classes you take are the intro classes, the 101 classes, with names like “Intro to Psychology” and “History of Early America.” This is Green Energy 101.

GREEN BY EXAMPLE is our newest course, teaching you the basics of LEED certification, weatherization, solar and other groundbreaking innovations. Taught by LEED expert Sam Klein (LEED For Homes Quality Assurance Designee), GREEN BY EXAMPLE can show you the investments you should consider and the ones you need to make in order to become LEED certified or just save your family a few bucks. And with guest speakers from the Philly solar and green building communities, we are making sure you are getting the most up-to-date information.

Before Philadelphia students and prospective installers can get on a roof and install solar panels, they have to understand the basics of home and commercial energy. There are natural, creative ways to plug the energy leaks that are harming your environment and draining your wallet. Come learn about them.

And even if you are afraid of heights; even if you can’t tell an inverter from a ballast mount; even if you have no interest in solar at all, wouldn’t you like to know how to stop your house from hemorrhaging energy and costing you a fortune? Get your prerequisite energy knowledge out of the way with Green By Example.

Ok Sales Pitch over. Thanks for your interest in our mission and if you are interested in signing up, we will see you in class!

GREEN BY EXAMPLE: An introduction to Alternative Energy, Weatherization and LEED For Homes

When: Saturday, June 6th, 2009 / Saturday, June 13th, 2009 / Saturday, June 20th, 2009 / Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Where: Northern Liberties Community Center, 700 N. 3rd Street (at the corner of 3rd and Fairmount Sts.)

Time: 9:30am-12:30pm

Cost: $350 for the entire 4-week program. There are 5 spots available to low-income participants.

Solar is good for the planet, because it uses no fossil fuel to operate.

This in turn helps to retain humanity’s quality of life, by restraining climate change. Recently, Tom Tuffey (of Penn Future) made a point, that the planet is under additional pressure as population & standard of living increase in developing economies. Those variables are driving up worldwide demand for fossil fuels, which need to be offset by reductions & conservation, to avoid calamity. 

As future inflation increases energy costs, a solar installation’s cost do not.

Go Solar – 3 ways for people to win!

Bob Simon