Workshop on Solar Energy at the MCLA

12:00AM / Friday, February 10, 2006Print Story | Email Story

Solar energy for your home or business is the focus of a free workshop presented by the Center for Ecological Technology (CETsm) to highlight solar energy and exciting new funding opportunities. Anyone who is curious about whatâ€™s involved in using the power of the sun is encouraged to attend the informational workshop, which will be presented in North Adams on Thursday, March 2nd at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, at the Sullivan Lounge in the Amsler Center. Registration will begin at 6:30 p.m. The workshop will start promptly at 7 p.m. and will end by 9:00 p.m. Chris Vreeland, a registered professional engineer, will be the featured speaker. The workshop is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is encouraged. Skyrocketing energy costs and concern about the effects of fossils fuels on our health and environment are leading many people to conserve and seek local, clean sources of energy. Over the past two years, dozens of solar electric systems have been installed on homes, schools and public buildings in the Berkshires, and there is growing interest are in solar hot water systems. CETâ€™s workshop is a way to find out if a solar energy system is a good fit. Those who attend will learn the basics of using energy from the sun to create electricity or heat water. They will also learn how solar panels work, the components of a solar electric system, how to determine whether they have a good site and how to gain additional benefits through energy efficient improvements. Also covered will be average prices for solar electric and solar hot water systems, and how to find local contractors who install systems. The workshop will showcase systems that have recently been installed in the Berkshires. A highlight of the workshop will be information about financial incentives available from Massachusetts and the federal government. Mr. Vreeland will give an overview of those incentives and will summarize a new program offered by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to help homeowners and small businesses pay for renewable energy systems. Please pre-register if you are interested in attending. To find out more or to pre-register, contact Cynthia Grippaldi, at 413-445-4556 ext. 25 or email Nancy at: nancyn@cetonline.org. For those who canâ€™t attend the North Adams event, the solar energy workshop will be repeated on April 4th at Simonâ€™s Rock College in Great Barrington. CET is a non-profit energy and resource conservation organization that has served western Massachusetts since 1976. CET receives funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. CET is an equal opportunity service provider. This workshop is made possible through grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

Save & Earn with Greylock

3.30% APY 6-month certificate. Click to learn more! Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

North Adams Officials to Revote School Committee Members

Staff reports06:31PM / Friday, October 09, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City and school officials will meet a second time to vote in two new members of the School Committee.

The joint convention of the City Council and School Committee will be held on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the City Hall conference room and via Zoom.

Damon Grimes and Paul Moriarty were jointly elected on Monday to fill two seats vacated by resignation. They were two of four candidates standing for election.

Mayor Jennifer Macksey, chair of the School Committee, said she had received in inquiry about the votes, which were done by secret ballot.

"I have been advised that voting by ballot was not permissible in this circumstance," she said, after consulting the School Committee's attorney Adam Dupere and city solicitor KP Law.

To ensure the validity of the votes and conduct of the election, the joint convention will reconvene and formally confirm the selection of Grimes and Moriarty.

"I apologize for the inconvenience of having to reconvene," the mayor said in a statement. "My intention in using a ballot was to address concerns raised following our previous convention, when some members expressed discomfort with publicly voting for or against individual candidates.

View Full Story