Information on small-scale solar and wind energy applications will be available at a seminar next month in Morgan County.
The Morgan County U. of I. Extension Office is hosting a wind and solar energy seminar on November 19th. Duane Friend with the Extension Office says there are still a lot of individual incentives available through the State of Illinois for renewable energy.
Freind says there is also a lot of renewable energy technology that people may not be aware of or understand, and Extension Educator Jay Solomon will be presenting the free seminar on what is available both large and small in renewable energy.
“Jay’s going to talk about that terminology and what it means. He’s also going to talk about how wind and solar can fit into home energy plans. And besides the large-scale utility systems and the small residential systems, there are kind of a mid-scale community system that he is going to talk about where sometimes small communities can go together and receive some benefits by putting in a more mid-scale system.”
Friend says some of the small-scale community or individual wind energy applications are starting to become popular in other parts of the state, but have yet to be discussed in this area.
He says those options are smaller in scale than those east of Jacksonville in the Lincoln Land Wind Project and therefore won’t take away from the beauty of the area they are placed in and there are several incentives available for both individual and community applications.
Friend says the seminar is not aimed at promoting or selling wind and solar energy to anyone attending, he says it is simply an opportunity for residents to find out more information on the topic.
“There’s still a lot of questions out there on both solar and wind. There’s still interest out there too, and we just want to provide that information to help people make their decision.”
The seminar is free however anyone interested in attending the in-person event will need to register by calling 217-243-7424 or on online at go.Illinois.edu\solarwind.
The solar and wind energy seminar will be held at the Morgan County U. of I. Extension Office on Friday, November 19th at 1:30 pm, located at 104 North Westgate in Jacksonville.