March 23, 2009

Seminar offers basics on residential wind power

The Introduction to Residential Wind Seminar is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST March 31. The seminar, originating from the Pfendler Hall Dean's Auditorium on Purdue's West Lafayette campus, will be broadcast at 11 county offices of Purdue Extension.

"This seminar will give participants a basic course on what residential wind development is and information on how to put up a wind turbine on their property," said Chad Martin, Purdue Extension renewable energy specialist.

Besides learning about the science behind wind energy, the workshop also will cover the cost of wind turbines and the benefits to landowners from harnessing the wind for electricity.

"While small-scaled wind turbine installations are not necessarily a profit-generating opportunity in our state, people may be interested in these systems to provide green energy production on their property," Martin said. "Some utility companies and REMC's are interested in purchasing excess power through net metering, and some are not. Be sure to check with your local utility before installing a small wind turbine."

Clay Sterling of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association will lead the seminar. A seminar brochure is available on the Purdue Renewable Energy Web site's wind energy page, at https://www.extension.purdue.edu/renewable%2Denergy/wind-energy.shtml.

The seminar will be carried by Internet video hookup at the following locations:

• Angola - Purdue Extension Steuben County Office. Contact: Thomas Eickholtz, 260-668-1000 or eickholt@purdue.edu

• Brookville - Purdue Extension Franklin County Office. Contact: Jeremy Weber, 765-647-3511 or weberjs@purdue.edu

• Crown Point - Purdue Extension Lake County Office. Contact: Nikky Witkowski, 219-755-3251 or nikky@purdue.edu

• Danville - Purdue Extension Hendricks County Office. Contact: Jon Cain at 317-745-9260 or joncain@purdue.edu

• Lafayette - Purdue Extension Tippecanoe County Office. Contact: Brian Metzger or Jeff Phillips at 765-474-0793 or bmetzger@purdue.edu  or jphillips@purdue.edu

• LaGrange - Purdue Extension Lagrange County Office. Contact Steve Engleking at 260-499-6334 or sengleking@purdue.edu

• LaPorte - Purdue Extension LaPorte County Office. Contact: Walt Sell at 219-324-9407 or wsell@purdue.edu

• New Castle - Purdue Extension Henry County Office. Contact: Gary Wilson at 765-529-5002 or wilsongl@purdue.edu

• Rensselaer - Purdue Extension Jasper County Office. Contact: Bryan Overstreet at 219-866-5741 or boverstreet@purdue.edu. The seminar will take place 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time.

• Tipton - Purdue Extension Tipton County Office. Contact: Mary Day at 765-675-2694 or mley2@purdue.edu

• Winamac - Purdue Extension Pulaski County Office. Contact: Michael Reetz at 574-946-3412 or 574-946-6449 or reetz@purdue.edu

A limited number of seats are available at the Pfendler Hall Dean's Auditorium. To reserve a seat, contact Cris Dorman, coordinator of public outreach and education for the Indiana Office of Energy Development at 317-690-7243 (cell) or by e-mail at cdorman@oed.in.gov.

The Indiana Office of Energy is a lead seminar sponsor. Other sponsors include Purdue Extension, Purdue's Energy Center at Discovery Park and North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.

Writer: Ashley Bechman, 765-494-8402, aabechma@purdue.edu

Sources: Chad Martin, 765-496-3964, martin95@purdue.edu

Eric Burch, 317-232-8944, eburch@oed.in.gov

Ag Communications: (765) 494-8415;
Steve Leer, sleer@purdue.edu
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