RREAL News

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We Made Our Matching Grant!

Thanks to our private donors, RREAL was able to raise the $10,000 needed for the Initiative Foundation's Matching Grant Challenge! RREAL will now be able to help four local families stay warm next winter. Thank you to everyone who donated and thank you to the Initiative Foundation for issuing this challenge!



RREAL awarded grant from Brainerd Lakes Community Area Foundation!

The Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) has received a $10,000 General Operating grant from the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation. This money is meant to support the organization while it begins not only an expansion of services in the Brainerd Lakes Area, but also trains local weatherization crews to install solar air heat systems.

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and Rural Renewable Energy Alliance Team Up to Train Workers While Helping Families!

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, in partnership with the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL), was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in order to install eight solar heating systems on the homes of low-income residents on the reservation. Four systems were installed on the homes of low-income families and four systems on homes owned by the Leech Lake Tribal Housing Authority.

The Housing Authority provides housing to low-income families that are not able to purchase their own home and provides each family the opportunity to purchase their home over a period of many years. The installation of RREAL’s Solar Powered Furnace will result in the reduction of heating costs, freeing up more money for these families and allowing them to more quickly purchase their home. Other goals of this pilot project include studying the effectiveness of the systems, the reduction of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions on the reservation, and to prepare a workforce for the green jobs industry and create green jobs on the Leech Lake Reservation.

Through the process, RREAL and the Leech Lake Housing staff worked side by side to identify viable housing sites, educate families about solar technology, and perform installations. Training has been completed and Leech Lake can now officially deploy solar air heat on its own in order to help keep tribal families warm during long Minnesota winters


BSU students visit RREAL for Workday!

RREAL had 13 members of the Students for the Environment organization from Bemidji State University come in to do various service projects around the RREAL headquarters. They helped to organize our shed, built a bike rack, insulate our demo house, as well as various other tasks. The RREAL team would like to thank them for giving time on their day off to help us out!




RREAL Wins Social Entrepreneurship Cup!

The Social Entrepreneur's Cup is a competition to find Minnesota's most innovative and effective social entrepreneurs. RREAL was one of four finalists to compete as part of the Engaged Philanthropy Conference. The Social Entrepreneur's Cup was created to seek out, celebrate, and promote Minnesota's most innovative and effective social entrepreneurs and their solutions to society's most pressing social problems. As winner of the competition, RREAL will receive $20,000 as a general operating grant and 40 hours of consulting services Social Venture Partners.



RREAL and Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity Team Up to Help Low Income Families

RREAL launched a partnership with Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity to provide comfortable, energy efficient homes to partner families. In this first joint effort, RREAL installed a 2-panel Solar Powered Furnace system on a home under construction in Pillager. This system will better enable the partner family to afford future operating costs of their home. RREAL is excited about this new partnership and hopes to work with Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity on future projects!



RREAL has been named 'Outstanding Green Venture'

The Initiative Foundation selected RREAL among the six winners of its 2009 Initiative Awards, which recognize outstanding leadership and community service in central Minnesota. RREAL was honored April 17 at the St. Cloud Civic Center, at a beautiful event attended by over 500 community members and supporters. What an honor! Thanks to all of the hard working supporters, staff, and volunteers who make our work possible!




End of Year Celebration a Success!

On December 6, 2008 RREAL held an End of Year Celebration and Silent Auction at the Pine River Pantry and Quilters Parlour. The event was not only intended to benefit RREAL’s Solar Assistance program, but to spread awareness in our local community on the issues of fuel poverty and solar energy in Minnesota. The night was a huge success, raising over $2,000 for RREAL.



Senator Klobuchar tours RREAL

United States Senator Amy Klobuchar along with Minnesota State Representative Brita Sailer paid a visit to RREAL December 3, 2008. Senator Klobuchar’s visit was part of her statewide economic tour focusing on green job opportunities. She spoke with RREAL staff concerning the issue of fuel poverty in Minnesota and the implications of using renewable energy, like solar air heat, as an alternative within the larger Energy Assistance program.




MCC visits RREAL!

Members of the Minnesota Conservation Corps (MCC) arrived on the Hunt Utilities Group (HUG) campus to work with the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) and Happy Dancing Turtle on September 29, 2008. While at RREAL, the MCC crews participated in several important projects. Three individuals assisted Heather in building new collectors in the shop, while others set up sun-soaking racks in order to further prepare collectors for installation and sale. The groups also reorganized our storage space and helped with other general grounds keeping tasks.




RREAL Files for Patent

During the research and development process for the Solar Powered Furnace (SPF), RREAL made many advancements toward solar air heat technology. Not only is the SPF highly efficient and durable, RREAL has also come up with an integrated racking/mounting system that will make the collectors easier to install and an array interconnect that will leave an airtight seal between the collectors.







Announcing: The RREAL Solar Powered Furnace (SPF)!

RREAL is proud to announce the launch of the SPF – the Solar Powered Furnace. The SPF design process was a 2 year labor of love for the RREAL team, and we’re excited to now offer the SPF line of solar thermal panels to the public and our Solar Assistance clients. Having met the following rigorous design objectives, RREAL has created the finest solar air heater available on the market today.




RREAL announces “Project Solstice” : An ambitious plan to deliver solar air heat to 150 low- income families

An ambitious plan to deliver solar air heat to 150 low- income families in Central Minnesota by 2009. Thanks to the tremendous support and growth RREAL has experienced over the last year, RREAL is now poised to make a tremendous impact in North/ Central Minnesota. Alas, achieving this goal will take a tremendous amount of work and support from our community. If you would like to be involved, we are always grateful for volunteers, and of course for financial support. Stay tuned for updates on our progress towards this goal.