SEEDS planted for new mentoring program

By SANDY LONG

LAKE ARIEL, PA — Kathy Dodge and Pete Snyder will see a long-held dream become reality this spring. The alternative energy advocates planted the seeds for a more sustainable lifestyle many years ago, and will begin to harvest the sun’s energy when a solar photovoltaic system is installed at their home in Lake Ariel.

But the couple isn’t keeping the potential benefits to themselves. Their installation is serving to kick off a new mentoring program organized by Sustainable Energy Education and Development Support (SEEDS) of Northeast Pennsylvania. The program is aimed at preparing interested individuals to harvest their own share of the rising “green” market in the Upper Delaware region.

Participants from Pennsylvania and New York, under the guidance of Roy Butler and Dave Cain, of Four Winds Renewable Energy in Arkport, NY, assessed the couple’s solar options during the mentoring workshop. Earlier this year, they completed a three-day workshop on solar photo voltaic installation led by Butler.

During their onsite visit, the men evaluated three possible locations by conducting shading analyses and assessing other variables, followed by computer analysis of the results. Issues such as tree removal and power line setbacks were taken into consideration in creating final recommendations for siting the installation. “The goal is to distill it down to a few options for the client, balancing factors such as aesthetics, economics and output,” Butler told the group. “It often involves a series of compromises.”

Jim Sanders, who organized the event for SEEDS, acknowledged a strong personal interest in energy saving construction and green energy production. “It makes no sense to continue to build houses that consume gas and oil when we’ve got options like geothermal heat pumps, photovoltaic arrays and new forms of insulation,” he said. “We’ve got to start teaching the public that this is good basic design that might cost more initially, but produces great savings over time. The key is to train local contractors so the public has someone to turn to for these things.”

Sanders has also had a geothermal heat pump installed in his home and is eager to share information regarding that process. He can be contacted through SEEDS.

In an effort to support interested individuals, Sanders said SEEDS will make its Solar Pathfinder available for borrowing. “We’ve got to go the extra mile to help people get beyond the conventional barriers of not thinking about these new opportunities,” he said.

General contractor, Matt Lewis, of Honesdale, PA, participated in the program due to his conviction that renewable energy systems are increasingly sought by consumers. He plans to be poised to meet the needs of the regional market, and is taking advantage of the local learning opportunity to make that happen.

The next photovoltaic teaching workshops will be held on March 25 through 27. “We want plenty of local installers and maintainers ready when the ‘green’ money is released this summer so our community can be among the first to start the transition to clean energy,” said SEEDS chair, Michele Sands.

Visit www.SEEDSGroup.blogspot.com for more information, or call 570/224-0052.