Solar power will be taking the stage at the
Ypsilanti Heritage Festival from August 17-19. Solar Ypsi will be installing a 26-panel, 6KW ground-mount system, on loan from Stefan Graf of IlluminArt, at Riverside Park. The temporary installation will provide a small percentage of the festival's power, according to Dave Strenski, Solar Ypsi's volunteer coordinator.
"It's targeted as a very educational solar demonstration," Strenski says. "...It's ground mount, so anyone who's interested in putting solar in their backyards, they can replicate this system very easily." Cost information will be available and Solar Ypsi volunteers will staff the installation.
Solar Ypsi's permanent solar installations at City Hall, the Ypsi Food Co-op, and the River Street Bakery have been running from about
76-84% efficient from June 2011 through May 2012, according to data tracked by the non-profit. However, DTE Energy's recent installation of new smart meters has interrupted Solar Ypsi's ability to track energy production at the co-op and bakery. Strenski is looking for help in building a device to read the new meters and push the data to SolarYpsi.
"If we can read this radio frequency coming from the meters and we make a little device, then anybody can build one and monitor their own house ... more than Solar Ypsi, we can build a little DIY home energy monitoring system," Strenski figures.
Interested parties may look for details
here and email
solar@ypsifoodcoop.org with offers of help.
Source: Dave Strenski, volunteer coordinator of Solar Ypsi
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
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