Going Solar

The Going Solar blog will feature ideas and information relevant to installing and optimizing home solar energy systems, plus the occasional posts relevant to the climate change crisis and lack of political sanity. Our low cost panel racks have been replicated four times in our county, and at least a dozen times across the country and South America that I know of.  There are also some useful resources related to our Solar Open House.

This site is also used test WordPress plugins and functions I’ve been developing for my client’s websites, such as the iconic newslink management software that provide these news widgets and their associated searchable archives.

Featured Posts

2 posts found

Gallery, Going Solar Don Alejandro February 5, 2013
Low cost adjustable solar panel rack
Mary and I live off grid, so we wanted to mount our panels near ground level, where we could easily keep the snow off (i.e., not on a two story tin roof) and adjust the panel angle seasonally, because every watt is sacred in a non-grid-tie system, especially December through February in WV. Also, the panels would be more efficient in warm weather (due to being cooler than if mounted on a hot tin roof). We didn't want to spend a lot of money on a pole-mount rack, so I came up with a simple design that we built from treated lumber, common hardware and hinges. More
Tagged: Panel mounting

Going Solar Mary Wildfire October 10, 2015
First Steps to Solar
Mary Wildfire’s presentation from the Solar Open House at Hickory Ridge. More
Tagged: Renewable energy, solar

Going Solar Blog

28 posts found, showing 10 per page

Going Solar Mary Wildfire August 31, 2017
FERC is a Sugar Daddy
FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is the kind of regulatory agency any industry would love. More
Issues: FERC, Pipelines

Going Solar Mary Wildfire August 29, 2017
Tunnel Vision at FERC
As a way to study environmental impacts, looking at the world through a tiny close-up lens is not a good approach. More
Issues: FERC, Pipelines

Going Solar Mary Wildfire March 31, 2017
Natural gas at all costs is WV’s moral imperative?
According to Senate President Mitch Carmichael, “We have a moral imperative to provide low-cost energy, not only to West Virginia, but to the world.” So it’s not only a matter of revenues and jobs behind the current push to exploit natural gas in the Marcellus and other shales, it’s also a “moral imperative.” More
Issues: Climate Chaos, Extreme energy, Renewable energy

Going Solar Mary Wildfire February 10, 2017
The Other Side of Combating Climate Change
If we are to avert catastrophic climate change, not only do we need to ramp down greenhouse gas emissions extremely rapidly—we also need to sequester some of the excess carbon dioxide that’s already in our air. More
Issues: Climate Chaos, Garden

Going Solar Mary Wildfire October 18, 2016
Solar Open House In Roane County on November 5
The second annual solar open house in Roane County will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 5 at the home of Bob and Jan Mertz on Mulberry Ridge.  More
Issues: Renewable energy, solar

Going Solar Mary Wildfire September 20, 2016
Will our representatives in Washington betray us on TPP?
Everybody hates the Tran Pacific Partnership “free trade” deal. Conservatives hate it because of its assault on sovereignty, the way it hands over the rights to regulate in the U.S. to foreign corporations. Liberals and progressives hate the way it threatens labor rights, health and safety standards, and the environment. More
Issues: TPP

Going Solar Mary Wildfire August 16, 2016
Let’s Ask John Oliver to Do a Show on FERC!
Do you ever watch John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight”? I find his show both funny and informative—in my opinion, he’s the best of Jon Stewart’s protégés. He’s one of the last of the muckraking journalists, showcasing outrages not getting much attention elsewhere. More
Issues: Extreme energy, FERC

Going Solar Mary Wildfire May 7, 2016
Come to the Rubberstamp Rebellion: Ride with Us, Tell Off FERC
So why am I planning to go to D.C. again, this time to participate in Beyond Extreme Energy’s Rubberstamp Rebellion? More
Issues: Extreme energy, FERC

Going Solar Mary Wildfire October 20, 2015
Environmental Injustice
The term “environmental injustice” typically refers to a situation in which one group of people, usually poor and minority, suffers the environmental harms of an activity while another group, usually more affluent and white, reaps the benefits. More
Issues: Extreme energy

Gallery, Going Solar Mary Wildfire October 13, 2015
Marcellus Tour 2015 – Sunday, October 11
Thirteen people gathered on Sunday, October 11th for a tour of Marcellus drilling sites in Wetzel County. More
Issues: Climate Chaos, Extreme energy, Fracking