MREF - 2001
Midwest Renewable Energy Fair

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WHAT IS MREF?  Many years ago, in central Wisconsin, there was a pocket of farms, an Amish community.  When electrical power was put in to the region, it was not provided to this patch of farms.  After a while, many of the Amish moved elsewhere--and the people who bought their places largely decided to put in off-grid power systems. As time went by, they decided to have an educational  celebration to show folks what they were doing and how.  Thus the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, http://www.the-mrea.org was born, and their annual celebration of renewable energy technologies is now the present fair.

This year's renewable energy fair near Amherst, WI, was June 22nd through June 24th.  So much to see and so little time....
 

This building, plus a big wind generator (see other photos), supplied most of the power for the fair.  This exhibit was really two power systems, one from the array on the roof and one from the tracker.  The Eco-village is a year-round demonstration system.

WORKSHOPS!  Many (10 or so?) huge tents offered workshops on every possible subject related to renewable energy.  Examples:  Harvesting energy in the midwest; wind system intro; RE community; hydronic heating; offsetting CO2 emissions; low head micro; why have a lawn; Electric Vehicles; super-insulated homes; energy conservation; geothermal opportunities; batteries; super-insulation: a homeowner approach; fuel cells; ---well, you get my drift.  There was a lot of information to absorb for the willing!
 

I finally met my vendor of the Crystal Cold  refrigerators--and he had several on display, including the 12 cu.ft. upright freezer they offer.  Units looked great and attracted many inquiries. 
 

I SHOOK RICHARD PEREZ'S HAND!  I may never wash it again....  The Homepower crew were just great to schmooze with, and renew old acquaintances.
 

Kyocera's booth:  the world's largest PV manufacturer.  Hi Steve V!

Lots of wind generators were on display at the fair; in the right site, wind can be much more cost-effective than solar.  Units from Scotland, Zimbabwe and other countries were featured.
 

The Bergey XL 1 (1 kilowatt wind genny, with a top end around 1600 watts) was unveiled at the show.  Don't ask Steve Wilke when to expect one, though....units are back-ordered due to popularity, about 6-7 months at this writing.  And the XL-1S (grid-tie without batteries) will hopefully be available by next spring.

This big wind generator (of unknown origin) is part of the power system for the fair.  The first day it was really cranking!  And very impressive on its 80+ foot tower.

Of course, some politics are always involved.....

And here are some non-political options:  there was a nice selection of home- built EVs (electric vehicles), and also a new Toyota Prius.
 

The Prius....

There were several Solar Home Tours of local visionaries; this place was heated through passive solar hot water, a truly awesome place to check out!

Time to eat, party and have fun. It's way cool to see folks from several different manufacturers & distributors get together to have a few beers, eat and share ideas and ideologies--and also dumb jokes.

And always great to see old friends.  Another MREF draws to a close; it's been an awesome sharing of technologies, feelings, hopes, aspirations, and goals of energy independence.  See you next solstice!

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