Hello,
I serve on the Palestine BOE in Crawford County, IL. After looking at the wind maps it appears we may be in an 'fair' area for wind power.

This year we moved into a new grade school with a geo-thermal HVAC system. Our science classes have instituted a composting project to reduce our waste and we are moving toward enviro-friendly cleaning supplies. Since moving into the new building we have been exploring other ways to "green up" our school and provide a educational tool to our students.

With the recent increase (250%+) in electric rates solar and/or wind power have been brought up as possibilities.

Are their grants availble for this type of project?

Is it really feasible? And how do we go about determining this?

Thanks for help with these questions and any other info you can provide.

Hi Jim!

A great resource for information on grants for renewable energy, including wind, is the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, at http://www.dsireusa.org/

As for whether or not a project is feasible, there are many things you'll need to think about. Since you're also thinking about solar, I assume you're thinking small-scale (rather than utility-scale). I'd suggest starting out by reading through the small wind section of our website, at http://windustry.org/SmallWind/default.htm. There's a link to an Iowa-specific guide to small wind on the page as well.

Also, you might want to check out our case studies on schools that have put together wind projects, which are at http://windustry.org/community/projects.htm#Schools. There are quite a few Iowa examples.

I hope this helps! Please feel free to post here again or contact Windustry if you have more questions!