Climate Protection Heroes of Chester County

Stargazers Vineyard

Alice and John Weygandt started growing grapes at Stargazers Vineyard in 1979. The solar PV installation consists of 30 BP panels and is rated at 4.8 Kw.  Their residence is an envelope design, or a house within a house, whose sole source of heat is the sun and a woodstove for backup.

Lanchester Landfill

Chester County Solid Waste Authority at Lanchester Landfill installed a methane gas recovery unit which transports the gas 13 miles to Dart Container and Advanced Food Products. Rated for 4,000 SCFM, the system saves the equivalent of 122,800 barrels of oil or 250 railcars of coal.

SECCRA Landfill

The Southeastern Chester County Refuse Authority is generating about 2 MW (1 megawatt equals one thousand kilowatts) of power by converting methane, a potent GHG into electicity.

 

Twin Valley Elementary School

Twin Valley Elementary School is the only LEED designed school in the county, saving taxpayers real dollars in utility costs with their Ground Source Heat Pump (geothermal) heating and cooling system.

 

SmartPower $10,000 PV Award Winners

Percent of residential customers signed up for renewable electricity, as of 6/13/08

East Bradford Township 7.77%

East Vincent Township 3.54

London Grove Township 3.38%

Schuykill Township 6.11%

South Coventry Township 3.77%

Tredyffrin Township 7.99%

West Vincent Township 7.54%

 

Oxford Borough

For signing up for The US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement

 

West Chester Borough and BLUER

For implementing the ICLEI Program

 

Krapf Bus Companies

For using B20 in its school bus fleets in the following Chester County school districts:

Great Valley

Coatesville

Downingtown

Kennett

West Chester

Chester County Intermediate Unit

Krapf is displacing close to 500,000 gallons of diesel fuel!

 

Chester County Commissioners

For approving a resolution to appoint a global warming task force.
Thank you Carol Aichele, Donald Mancini, and Patrick O'Donnell.

 

Green Valleys Association

The Green Valleys Association is a non-profit whose mission it is to protect the watershed areas of northern Chester County. GVA has installed a 5.1 kW PV system on top of Welkinweir, and is planning a micro-hydro turbine at their dam.

 

This 5.1 kW system, generating 49% of GVA's power demand, was placed on its headquarters at Welkinweir to show that a balance can be acheived between historic preservation and sustainability. The view above was taken from the widow's walk on top of the mansion.

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills is a sound, sustainable, agricultural and craft community working to foster the dignity of each member and serve as a model of alternative interdependent community living for people with and without disabilities. Camphill installed their 8.3 kW garage roof mounted PV sysem in 2005.

 

This beautiful solar generator can be found on the garage at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills. Rated at a whopping 8.3 kW, this installation serves a bakery and café while promoting the example of sustainability and stewardship.

 

Maysie's Farm Conservation Center

Maysie's Farm is an educational non-profit CSA organied to promote the importance of conservation and organic farming. Their 2kW pole mounted system generates over 2,500 kWh per year.

This pole mounted 2 kW system at Maysie's Farm is being admired by a group on the Solar Homes Tour taken in October 2007.

 

 

Kimberton Whole Foods

Kimberton Whole Foods operates three independent grocery stores in the area, offering local, organic, and hand-crafted food and supplies. Their 4.8 kW PV roof mounted system was installed in 2005.

The south side view of Kimberton Whole Foods' 4.8 kW system. You can just make out one section of the roof mounted panel on the top left, in addition to the wall mounted “awning.”

 

 

Stroud Water Research Center

Dedicated to the study of streams and rivers, Stroud is internationally acclaimed for its pioneering work, not only locally, but also regionally (New York, Costa Rica and Peru).

Pictured is the Weather Monitoring Station at Stroud Water Research Center. Part of the US Climate Reference Network, this station measures temperature (3 sensors), precipitation, solar radiation and surface temperature, and wind speed. The US Climate Reference Network is a network of ultimately 110 climate stations being developed by NOAA to provide a set of standardized observations for present and future climate change.

 

French Creek Ridge Vineyards

This Elverson vineyard produces great wines with an emphasis on sustainability by hand-picking all grapes and having a low chemical input for growing the vines.

Pictured are two of the three pole mounted, two-axis tracking units installed at French Creek Ridge Vineyards, totaling 4.8 kW.

 

 

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