Berkshire East To Become First Ski Area To Be Fully Powered By On-Site Renewables

Story by Unofficialnetworks.com

A new solar installation a Berkshire East Ski Area has helped the Massachusetts ski area to become the worlds first ski area to be powered entirely from on-site renewables.

World’s First Ski Area Fully Powered With On-Site Renewables

The year-round resort recently developed a 500kW solar tracker farm that will produce 700,000kWh annually. The solar farm will supplement a 900kW wind turbine the company installed in 2011. Together, the two systems will cover the area’s entire annual electric demand.

The recently commissioned 500kW solar farm consists of 90 dual-axis AllSun Trackers, which are manufactured in Vermont and follow the sun throughout the day to boost energy production by up to 45 percent more than rooftop installations.

The AllSun Tracker is manufactured by AllEarth Renewables of Williston, Vt. The ground-mounted solar systems are designed for homes, businesses, non-profits, and commercial-scale installations. The company is a 2012 Inc. 500 business for fastest growing companies nation-wide and has installed over 1,400 complete grid-connected solar tracker systems.

Read more @ solardaily.com

Berkshire East Installs Wind Turbine and Goes 100% Green Wax

It's been a big week for Berkshire East and Green Wax.  

On Sunday, Berkshire East raised a 900kw wind turbine, that will produce 100% of our electricity for the ski area.

Monday, Green Wax got the call from Resort Owner, Jon Schaefer pledging his support by switching 100% to Green Wax;    

"By exclusively utilizing Green Wax in our tuning shop and rental shop, Berkshire East is making a real commitment to our local environment. We have understood for a long time that ski wax was one of the industry's 'dirty little secrets' but now Green Wax gives us the opportunity to make a real difference."

"Making the decision to use Green Wax was easy; when comparing three comparable products, in terms of cost and performance, and only one is 100% sustainably produced and more importantly 100% biodegradable, Berkshire East will choose Green Wax 100% of the time."

  

In addition to their recent investment of 3 new fuel efficient groomers, which utilize the most efficient snow making technology available, they heat all of their buildings with the wood cut on-site, have increased lighting efficiency by about half in the past 7 years, and are planning a 1 megawatt solar installation to be completed by next summer.

www.berkshireeast.com

www.greenskiwax.com