We hope you enjoyed our first video blog post documenting our renewable energy project at Camp St. Christopher.  Have you ever wondered what a solar panel is made of?  Bet you didn’t know it was copper!  Have you ever wondered how a solar energy system works?  Check out this video blog.  We’ll explain some of the steps involved in creating free hot water via solar energy.  We’ll also take a closer look at our first residential install at the Camp and try to teach you a little about how one of our renewable energy systems actually work.

We also want to encourage you to check out our website, www.SCCleanEnergy.com or visit us on Facebook.  We make sure to post interesting and useful facts for you like our “7 Ways in 7 Days to be Greener” post.  You will also find pertinent news and information from the renewable energy industry that has an affect on you.

We introduced a large project we’re working on with Camp St. Christopher in a previous blog.  Camp St. Christopher is a non-profit complete conference center on the Atlantic Coast just south of Charleston.  It offers over 300 acres of beach, marsh and maritime forest and multiple facilities including meeting and conference centers, lodging, and worship centers.  We’re excited about keeping you up-to-date on our progress and informing you about how this project was made possible. 

The process began last August when the State Energy Office put out information that there were going to be $2.9 million available in grants for alternative energy projects for non-profits.  As soon as we found out, we immediately started getting in touch with local Charleston non-profit organizations to inform them about the opportunity.  When St. Christopher responded about being interested, we setup a meeting for late September 2009 and went out to view the grounds and start planning.

The RFP from the State was issued in early September.  The government was looking at multiple factors before approving a non-profit like St. Christopher for the grant.  These included visibility of project, potential job creation, overall benefit in terms of investment and payback of the project (they needed a minimum return of $2.50 dollars to $1 spent). 

The grant writing process was long and hard, but St. Christopher didn’t have to worry about that.  Sustainable Energy Solutions took care of making sure the grant was completed correctly and on time.  Anything we were able to do to make the process easier for them, we did!

After submitting the grant, we found out in March that St. Christopher was awarded the money!  After that, it was really time for us to get moving.  It took till June to actually get the contracts squared away with the state.  We then went through the permitting process.  We put together architectural drawings done by the camp director, roof mounting drawings, basically everything that needed to be done to the camp to get it ready for installation.  The buildings needed some retrofits to make the project possible.  For example, the roofing mounts had to be able to withstand 130mph winds with 150 mph gusts…..just one of many details to iron out.  We were permitted by the 2^nd week of July and started work the next week.   

Needless to say, the past year has been full of paperwork and phone calls, red tape and patience.  One of our main goals when working with a non-profit to obtain funding or a grant is to shoulder as much of the work as possible.  So far, it’s been a very successful project with St. Christopher. 

Stay tuned in weeks to come for pictures and videos on the construction, retrofits, and installation.  We want you to follow along with this project with us.  Also, if you’re involved in a non-profit, there are still government moneys available for your organization.  Even if you aren’t sure if you qualify, get in touch with us and we’ll help you get moving forward on an alternative energy project.