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A Harvest of Solar Gardens for Colorado

A Harvest of Solar Gardens for Colorado

Solar Panel Hosting team at an installation in Nederland

Alamosa, CO (PRWEB) October 20, 2011

On Thursday October 13, the Board of the San Luis Valley town of Antonito, Colorado voted 7-0 to host a community owned “solar garden” at their water treatment site, reported Alamosa’s Valley Courier. Managed by the Solar Panel Hosting Company, the half-acre, 50-kilowatt site will be sufficient to power 20 homes, and may be expanded up to 2000 kilowatts covering 16 acres if demand warrants. Says Andrea Guajardo of Conejos County Clean Water, Inc., “I’m excited that we can move forward with sustainable economic development, it’ll provide a way for our community to educate itself about solar given the strong interest in both large scale and distributed solar in our area.”

The following day, the Lake County Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve a solar garden at a county-owned gravel pit near Leadville. The 50-kilowatt array could grow as large as 500 kilowatts, and supply subscribers in Lake, Chaffee, and Park counties including residents, businesses, nonprofits and county government.

Solar Panel Hosting CEO Joy Hughes said, “We now are assisting over a dozen Colorado projects, from Antonito, near the New Mexico border, up to Larimer county adjacent to Wyoming. Most of the sites are on retired farmland, old mines or landfills. In the cities, we are looking at covered parking and big roofs.” Not all the projects will be built the first year, said Hughes, “These will be small pilot projects in the beginning, but the gardens will grow. They will form a distributed power plant, a solar panel the size of Colorado.” A map of approximate locations will be hosted at solargardens.org.

To promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, citizens in Saguache County, in southern Colorado have formed an organization called SAGE – Saguache Alliance for Green Energy. In April 2011, the Saguache town Board of Trustees signed a letter of intent with the Solar Panel Hosting Company to develop a solar garden located on one to two acres in the former town dump. Saguache’s 200-kilowatt system will power municipal buildings and residents whose roofs are shaded by the town’s many heritage trees.

City officials from Aurora toured two sites in Arapahoe and Adams counties. At 500 kilowatts apiece, these solar gardens together could supply enough power for hundreds of homes. “We support solar energy and opportunities to make it more accessible for all members of our community,” says Karen Hancock, Environmental Program Supervisor for the City of Aurora.

Other sites are located in Boulder, Weld and Jefferson counties. Nine solar gardens have applied to the Renewable Energy Development team at SRA international for technical assistance grants funded through the Governor’s Energy Office.

Solar Gardens Primer:

On June 5, 2010, former Governor Bill Ritter signed the Community Solar Gardens Act. A solar garden is a community owned solar array with at least 10 grid-connected “subscribers.” Each subscriber owns or leases a number of solar panels, and receives credit for the electricity the panels produce. Subscribers can be individuals, companies, schools, or municipalities – anyone with electric service from Xcel Energy or Black Hills Energy. Under the Act, the subscribers to a solar garden must reside within the same county or municipality. In counties with a population under 20,000, customers may subscribe to solar gardens in a neighboring county. Solar garden subscriptions are portable for subscribers who move within the same county. The minimum subscription size is one kilowatt, and a certain number of subscriptions must go to individuals who qualify for LEAP (Low-income Energy Assistance Program).

Some municipal and rural electric areas in Colorado offer their own separate community solar programs, including United Power, Holy Cross, Delta-Montrose Electric Area, Grand Valley Rural Electric, and Colorado Springs Utilities.

About the Solar Panel Hosting Company (SPH): The Solar Panel Hosting Company helps communities everywhere develop community solar arrays by working with local installers and nonprofits. SPH operates the website solargardens.org. SPH is a for-profit, for-benefit corporation exploring certified B corporation status.

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Tags: Colorado, Gardens, Harvest, Solar

Colorado Nursing Jobs, Other Health Professions Benefit From Pilot Program

Those with Colorado nursing jobs and other healthcare occupations may benefit from a new effort underway in the state. Officials from the State of Colorado recently announced that they will partner with Cisco to offer a series of pilot programs to create smart buildings and implement distance learning and remote healthcare through telepresence.

The program that will most benefit healthcare professionals is an effort between the two to implement telehealth in a number of rural locations. Pilots of technologies such as telepresence will allow doctors to consult with and diagnose patients remotely.

Another program will be targeted specifically to nurses. The project will allow students in remote areas to take classes via telepresence and Cisco WebEx. The program, which could help students get local jobs after graduation, hopes to lessen the number of nurses who leave their communities to attend nursing school and find jobs.

The final program will focus on creating more energy efficiency in towns and cities near the western portion of the Rocky mountains. As part of this effort, Cisco will help the state integrate power, lighting, HVAC and computer networks across multiple buildings.

The pilot program is an extension of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities initiative, which is aimed at building innovative, connected government network infrastructures.

Tags: Benefit, Colorado, From, Health, Jobs, Nursing, Pilot, Professions, Program

Colorado Nursing Jobs, Other Health Professions Benefit From Pilot Program

Those with Colorado nursing jobs and other healthcare occupations may benefit from a new effort underway in the state. Officials from the State of Colorado recently announced that they will partner with Cisco to offer a series of pilot programs to create smart buildings and implement distance learning and remote healthcare through telepresence.

The program that will most benefit healthcare professionals is an effort between the two to implement telehealth in a number of rural locations. Pilots of technologies such as telepresence will allow doctors to consult with and diagnose patients remotely.

Another program will be targeted specifically to nurses. The project will allow students in remote areas to take classes via telepresence and Cisco WebEx. The program, which could help students get local jobs after graduation, hopes to lessen the number of nurses who leave their communities to attend nursing school and find jobs.

The final program will focus on creating more energy efficiency in towns and cities near the western portion of the Rocky mountains. As part of this effort, Cisco will help the state integrate power, lighting, HVAC and computer networks across multiple buildings.

The pilot program is an extension of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities initiative, which is aimed at building innovative, connected government network infrastructures.

Tags: Benefit, Colorado, From, Health, Jobs, Nursing, Pilot, Professions, Program

Four Uses for a Colorado Home Loan

A Colorado home loan puts the equity in your home to work for you and your family. Your house is probably your largest asset. It’s an almost risk-free investment that increases in value as housing prices rise. You can easily turn this passive asset into ready cash for any of the following:

1. A Colorado home loan can be used to pay off a number of high-interest bills and leave you with one monthly payment. No more late fees or high interest rates to worry about. You spend less each month, yet catch up on your bills and improve your credit situation.

2. A Colorado home loan can be used to make debt more manageable by spreading out the payments over a longer time. The loan will give you a lump sum at a fixed rate of interest—unless you get an adjustable-rate loan—which you can use to clear up debts. The money will be repayable in equal installments over the life of the loan, anywhere from five-to-15 years.

3. A Colorado home loan can be used to pay for needed home improvements, which will increase the value of your home AND save you money on your taxes (because the interest is deductible). The right kind of upgrades will increase the market value of your house while letting you enjoy the improvements for as long as you live there.

4. And don’t forget, the money from a Colorado home loan can be used to invest in property or in the stock market, or to start that business you’ve been thinking about. By making the right investments, you can go from paying interest to earning interest and/or dividends.

These are just a few of the good things you could do with a Colorado home loan. Learn more, and get a free quote at USA Equity Loans. You are under no obligation to accept the loan, but it will let you know how much you could be qualified to borrow at today’s current rates.

Tags: Colorado, Four, Home, Loan, Uses

Colorado Nursing Jobs, Other Health Professions Benefit From Pilot Program

Those with Colorado nursing jobs and other healthcare occupations may benefit from a new effort underway in the state. Officials from the State of Colorado recently announced that they will partner with Cisco to offer a series of pilot programs to create smart buildings and implement distance learning and remote healthcare through telepresence.

The program that will most benefit healthcare professionals is an effort between the two to implement telehealth in a number of rural locations. Pilots of technologies such as telepresence will allow doctors to consult with and diagnose patients remotely.

Another program will be targeted specifically to nurses. The project will allow students in remote areas to take classes via telepresence and Cisco WebEx. The program, which could help students get local jobs after graduation, hopes to lessen the number of nurses who leave their communities to attend nursing school and find jobs.

The final program will focus on creating more energy efficiency in towns and cities near the western portion of the Rocky mountains. As part of this effort, Cisco will help the state integrate power, lighting, HVAC and computer networks across multiple buildings.

The pilot program is an extension of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities initiative, which is aimed at building innovative, connected government network infrastructures.

Tags: Benefit, Colorado, From, Health, Jobs, Nursing, Pilot, Professions, Program

Colorado Nursing Jobs, Other Health Professions Benefit From Pilot Program

Those with Colorado nursing jobs and other healthcare occupations may benefit from a new effort underway in the state. Officials from the State of Colorado recently announced that they will partner with Cisco to offer a series of pilot programs to create smart buildings and implement distance learning and remote healthcare through telepresence.

The program that will most benefit healthcare professionals is an effort between the two to implement telehealth in a number of rural locations. Pilots of technologies such as telepresence will allow doctors to consult with and diagnose patients remotely.

Another program will be targeted specifically to nurses. The project will allow students in remote areas to take classes via telepresence and Cisco WebEx. The program, which could help students get local jobs after graduation, hopes to lessen the number of nurses who leave their communities to attend nursing school and find jobs.

The final program will focus on creating more energy efficiency in towns and cities near the western portion of the Rocky mountains. As part of this effort, Cisco will help the state integrate power, lighting, HVAC and computer networks across multiple buildings.

The pilot program is an extension of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities initiative, which is aimed at building innovative, connected government network infrastructures.

Tags: Benefit, Colorado, From, Health, Jobs, Nursing, Pilot, Professions, Program

Misconceptions About Colorado Virtual School

Colorado has become a hot bed for online education. Colorado virtual school consists of students both in K-12 and higher education, jumping onto a virtual school for learning. Luckily, today’s CO virtual school are providing learning experience equal to what students find in traditional schools. The technology is a great help because research on teaching and learning and the commitment of the instructors to helps students succeed in their education.

Despite of the increasing numbers of online schools and students in Colorado, there are still misconceptions about online programs left over from the early days of online learning. Some of those misconceptions include:

Students are collectively secluded, spending hours unaccompanied at their desks.

Today’s virtual classes are extremely engaging with class assignments basing from students cooperating with each other and the instructor on an ongoing basis. In actual fact, there may be more chance for students and instructors to attach with each other than in traditional classroom surroundings, where loads of students are shy to speak up in public.

Online courses are low in worth and quality.

With the arrival of multimedia learning technologies, skilled online instructors and advanced online learning methodology, online high schools have completed vast steps in their capability to both understand and appreciate how online students gain knowledge and how to produce prosperous, active, multimedia courses to sustain that learning.

No one holds students responsible for their development.

There may be times when a number of online students wish this was the case, but no such luck! The online schools these days cover lots of ways to assist students stay on track with their assignments and studies, and instructors perceive that as a significant part of their job. From every day quizzes, to cyclic assessments, to meetings between advisors, parent and students, it is anticipated that everyone involved in that student’s education helps add to his or her success. Indeed, an online instructor can in fact distinguish how long a student has studied a certain subject and achieve an understanding of the students intellectual capacity by virtue of the time used up on the subject.

In conclusion, Colorado virtual school is a great option for many students and their families who are in search of an alternative to the conventional school surroundings. For most of the families in Colorado, overcoming the misconceptions about Co virtual school can lead students and families to a learning alternative that is modified to all learners providing them the self-determination to learn at their own speed at the time of their choosing.

Tags: About, Colorado, Misconceptions, School, Virtual

Colorado Nursing Jobs, Other Health Professions Benefit From Pilot Program

Those with Colorado nursing jobs and other healthcare occupations may benefit from a new effort underway in the state. Officials from the State of Colorado recently announced that they will partner with Cisco to offer a series of pilot programs to create smart buildings and implement distance learning and remote healthcare through telepresence.

The program that will most benefit healthcare professionals is an effort between the two to implement telehealth in a number of rural locations. Pilots of technologies such as telepresence will allow doctors to consult with and diagnose patients remotely.

Another program will be targeted specifically to nurses. The project will allow students in remote areas to take classes via telepresence and Cisco WebEx. The program, which could help students get local jobs after graduation, hopes to lessen the number of nurses who leave their communities to attend nursing school and find jobs.

The final program will focus on creating more energy efficiency in towns and cities near the western portion of the Rocky mountains. As part of this effort, Cisco will help the state integrate power, lighting, HVAC and computer networks across multiple buildings.

The pilot program is an extension of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities initiative, which is aimed at building innovative, connected government network infrastructures.

Tags: Benefit, Colorado, From, Health, Jobs, Nursing, Pilot, Professions, Program