Solar Tour

On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 10:19 PM, Tom Domonoske <tomdomonoske@earthlink.net> wrote:

Dear All:

The people on this email include people from the Climate Action of the Alliance of the Valley, from the Parkview Mennonite Church solar project, from the New Community Project, from the eco-community at JMU, and others interested in solar energy.

This email is about an idea for Earth Week and attached is a sketch mockup of a tri-fold map tentatively called “Harrisonburg Solar Tour.”

This idea is based on the following:

CAAV is interested in promoting solar and other sustainable practices;

the Parkview Mennonite Church solar project wants to have a unveiling some time close to Earth Day in April;

the New Community Project wants to promote the Northend Greenway by having a bike ride;

the eco-community at JMU wants to be involved in eco-friendly activities; and

I would like a quality map of the solar installations in Harrisonburg to be sitting in the Hardesty Higgins House with the other themed maps.

The idea is that on the day of the Parkview Mennonite Solar unveiling, the Northend Greenway could have a bike tour of some of the solar installations in Harrisonburg, it could start at EMU and go the expected route of the Greenway, and then circle back and ride by the solar facilities that were convenient to the path back to the Parkview Mennonite solar array grand opening. This would give a destination to the ride, bring more people to the array opening, and give a reason to get this map done before Earth Day.

The draft sketch that is attached is just a sample. I think CAAV knows the installers and people who work in solar who would probably agree to be sponsors. You will I listed some but this is just an example. On the map itself each solar location would be marked with a number, and then on the address list would be the property address and type of installation and year of installation. For sponsors, they could have little numbers next to their logo that could correspond to the projects they worked on.

The sponsor money from the businesses would be used to create a very nice map with high production quality. The eco-community at JMU could be asked if it would do the legwork to contact all the property owners and get permission for the property to be listed.

Anyway, this is the idea. I hope someone is interested enough to make it happen.

Thomas D. Domonoske

461 Lee Avenue

Harrisonburg, VA 22802

(540) 442-7706

Member, National Association of Consumer Advocates, www.naca.net

Board of Directors, Fairfield Center, www.fairfieldcenter.org

Of Counsel, Legal Aid Justice Center, www.justice4all.org

From: Anthony Smith <tony@securefutures.us>

To: Tom Domonoske <tomdomonoske@earthlink.net>

Cc: lesgrady@shentel.net; cathy strickler <cathystrickler4@gmail.com>; Charles Strickler <8cestrickler@gmail.com>; laura dansby <ktowngardener@gmail.com>; James M Leaman <james.leaman@emu.edu>; Jared L. Burden <burdenj@horizonsva.com>; John Hall <hallj@horizonsva.com>; cmast@mastgroup.net; Johann Zimmermann <zimmermannjohann@verizon.net>; tbenevento@newcommunityproject.org; northendgreenway@gmail.com; hunterhd@dukes.jmu.edu; milesjj@jmu.edu; Maria Papadakis <papadamc@jmu.edu>; benjamin@buildknow.com; "Hamilton, Arthur" <hamiltaj@jmu.edu>; Tim Evans <tim@littlegrillcollective.com>; Sam Nickels <samuelnickels@yahoo.com>; Matthew Huffman <matt@huffmanelectricalsystems.com>; Hugh Stoll <hugh@securefutures.us>; jonigrad@shentel.net; Erik Curren <erik@securefutures.us>; Christie-Joy Brodrick <brodricj@jmu.edu>; treenielsen@yahoo.com; eric.beck@hopecommunitybuilders.org; Aaron Yoder <homestead.frame@gmail.com>

Sent: Thursday, March 8, 2012 10:47 PM

Subject: Re: Harrisonburg Solar Tour project.

Hi Tom,

Great idea, and thank you for your creative initiative!

Speaking on behalf of Secure Futures, we would enthusiastically support this public awareness event. If someone or group (CAAV? JMU?) volunteers to put the information together, we would be happy to help cover the cost of printing a tri-fold and some graphics design. I'm hoping other solar businesses in the community would consider pitching in as well for the common good.

Best,

Tony

--

Anthony E. Smith, PhD

Co-Director, MBA Program

Eastern Mennonite University

and

President and CEO

Secure Futures, LLC

Staunton, VA 24401

cell: 540-255-1404

from Tom 4/28/12:

Unfortunately, my idea that a bike tour of solar facilities in and around Harrisonburg for Earth Day that would end at Park View Mennonite Church for a dedication ceremony of its pv solar array did not happen. The primary obstacle was that Park View Mennonite could not get approval from HEC to operate its system. I wanted to know why HEC was having trouble agreeing to hook up their system so I went to the HEC meeting last Tuesday morning (at 7:00 am!!) at the HEC facility south of downtown.

...

As for the Solar Tour of Harrisonburg Map idea, if the businesses who work in solar would like to see this happen (by this I mean throw in a little money for the production cost), then the map could easily be produced. It would identify the solar installations on a map, and list all the businesses with an identification for which projects each business worked on. It could sit in the displays at the Hardesty Higgins House and would give great visibility to the amount of solar in the area.