In the spring of 2011, we began to plan a solar mission to Eastern Tibet. We mailed a letter to customers, friends, and family and asked for help. Our goal was to raise money to buy solar panels in China, trek them into Tibet, and give electric light to people living in and around the Raktrul Monastery. The response and outpouring of support was enormous. In a few short weeks, we were featured in an article in the Woodstock Times, raised $16,000, and made our arrangements.

Working at 16,000 feet in elevation, we installed a 1,300 Watt ground mounted array at the Raktrul Monastery’s 3 year Retreat Center. We also passed out 55 portable solar generators to people from 9 different villages, many of whom had never before owned a light bulb.

In the spring of 2010, we installed a 25 kW PV array at the Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, NY. Located on 230 acres in the Catskill Mountains, ZMM offers retreats, residential programs, and monastic training for men and women from around the world. A large year-round organic garden provides much of the monastery’s food, as well as an opportunity for practitioners to experience and focus on outdoor manual work.

ZMM’s strong vision of incorporating solar into their operation inspired us to add momentum. Using a NYSERDA grant to help pay for equipment, SOLARgeneration donated time and resources for the design, permitting, and installation of the array. Since the installation of the initial 25 kW array, ZMM expanded their vision of clean energy. They’ve since hired us to install a 4 kW array for the Bookstore, a 4 kW array for the A-frame cottages, and a second 25 kW array for the newly constructed Dragon Hall.

In the fall of 2010, we approached the Woodstock Day School and offered to install a 13.4 kW ground mounted array, free of charge. Our goal was to do something positive for our local community. We felt that raising awareness in kids and lowering the school’s carbon footprint was a great solution.

Using a NYSERDA grant to help pay for the equipment, SOLARgeneration donated time and resources for the design, permitting, and installation of the array. Throughout the installation, we had fun giving presentations to all of the classes from K-12. We talked about energy, electricity, geometry, wires, shading, and fielded many wonderful questions. When the system was complete, the Day School organized a ribbon cutting ceremony for the students and faculty. Decked in SOLARgeneration t-shirts, everyone was very excited and happy to be outside on such a nice fall day.

In the spring of 2012, we installed a 25 kW PV array at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary in Willow, NY. Surrounded by the Catskill Mountains, WFAS provides shelter to cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, sheep, and goats that have been rescued from abuse, neglect, and abandonment.

At the heart of their mission is the hands-on work of rescuing, rehabilitating, and caring for farm animal refugees, as well as educating the public about the treatment of animals raised for food. We felt that a PV array would go a long way to help lower the farm’s carbon footprint and raise public awareness of renewable energy. Using a NYSERDA grant to help pay for equipment, SOLARgeneration donated time and resources for the design, permitting, and installation of the array.

Total Tennis of Saugerties, NY is the Northeast’s only year-round tennis camp. They were interested in reducing their overall reliance on fossil fuels and helping their botton line in the long term. We did a very large installation of ground-mounted solar panels for them.

A great example of ground-mounted solar panel installation.

A beautiful series of ground mounts on the Renbeck property. Solar energy at it’s finest!

These ground mounted solar panels were installed in a field on the Konrad-Bonano property.

A large ground mount solar-installation project.