Do-Yourself-Solar Technologies

Dads, Inc.! Downeast Alternative Design Solar, is a non-profit, Ed. Corp. Maine, with IRS tax exempt status (donations to DADS, Inc. are tax deductable). We'll initiate a membership program asap!

A 'small back-hoe' (donation or low-cost), for the re-build of the SEADS Camp as well as the Passive Solar homes will be needed in the near future. The form on the 'Contact Us' page here will allow you to comment and send questions concerning donating and participation this Fall ! Thank you.

              Southern deck view, Indian River Bay, Jonesport Solar Home, Downeast Solar Center.

To contact do-yourself-solar technologies, and DADS, please follow the easy instructions below and on previous pages. You may send email or phone. We will have directions available for the different locations of seminars, meetings and community centers as they become relevant. You may use the optional form below for ease of contact. This is a preliminary page and will be up-dated as necessary.

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Non-Profit Solar Community Land-trust development now available.  

We are here for an effort to secure a future for our Grandchildren ... !  SEADS (Solar Energy Awareness & Demonstration Seminars) and the community in Washington County, Maine ... the 'Sunrise County' ... need your support to help establish the re-birth of the Solar Community Land-trust at the 60 acre property in Columbia, Maine ! This renewed effort, since the property is now fully owned and paid for, by the non-profit educational corporation SEADS of Truth, will evolve with the ideas of families and individuals, interested in a future, for the children of the community and the world !

We need funding, as well as energetic effort in the re-building of the Solar-powered Seminar Center and the building of five solar homes with the families and community members. There will be 'time-share' opportunities and full-time living available in this 'back-to-the-land' organic solar experience ! We have finally connected with you here today and need to allow you to take the time to think of just how you may help yourself, your family and the community !

Our fundraising site was ended by FB recently, but we still need your donation and work on the re-build effort ! The form below will allow you to ask question and send comments for your participation and donations! Thank you. The link here is still active with relevant articles for you to enjoy

 "Go Sustainable Solar" ! :https://www.facebook.com/donate/10207443706799748/

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Updates on our yearly Fall 2018 Gathering ! Will be posted here ... One day workshop or a five day intensive, will give you 'hands-on' experience to motivate you forward to get active... 'for a future'!

 **For A Future ... 'To Work On What's Been Spoiled'!

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We are still on for the October 6, Saturday solar assembly workshop, as well as the 'Open House' Maine Solar Tour, at the Jonesport, Maine, Downeast Solar Center with 500W solar PV (some antique PV modules still working after a decade in the CA desert, 1970s). The Solar 'hypocaust' heat storage under the first floor, works automatically, with a solar powered fan everyday! Call John Burke, (207) 546-1639, RSVP

Since there were not enough participats for the first week, we had to cancel the intensive solar series, Oct. 2-5, 2018. Thank you.



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Maine Solar Tour, as part of the ASES National Solar Tour, (see ases.org).

 * Saturday, October 6, is the 'free' Maine Solar Tour day, with the Jonesport Passive Solar Home and PV modules on display. A unique 'hypocaust' fan system stores solar heat under the floor automatically every day.

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We look for your interest and communication on this page 'contact us' section below ... Thank you !

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This link to our Solar Community Land-trust fundraising site is still active for the interesting, relevant articles we want to share with you. Please send comments and questions on donations as well as just how you can participate and 'learn' with the group here !:

https://www.facebook.com/donate/10207443706799748/

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This section is available for directions and updates for seminars  and to allow a presentation of do-yourself-solar, and Downeast Alternative Design Solar.

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An early morning view east, from the MESEA Solar Home, Jonesport, ME ...     Washington Co., the 'Sunrise County' ...   Sept, 2013. 

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 A view west from the south deck, MESEA Solar Home, Jonesport, Maine, sunset, overlooking the Indian River Bay, 2012.

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Participants apply liquid silicon onto soldered PV strings, in place and ready for encapsulation process.

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Glass is placed on fresh liquid silicon. Weight is applied to glass and gentle pressure allows excess air to escape during encapsulation of 65 w module at humble farm PV assembly workshop.

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May '08 PV workshop participants remove encapsulated 65w module after curing. This module is now ready for the final wiring and framing at humble farm.

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Back of PV module showing placement of strings in series connection. The module is ready for final wiring, at humble farm PV assembly workshop, May '08.

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PV workshop participants solder finished wiring on 65w module before framing, humble farm, May '08.

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Solar Thermal Workshop 2008 -

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John and Soni solder copper pipes for humble farm do-yourself-solar hot water thermal panel - Sept. 2008.

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Soni Biehl, solders copper pipe during hot water panel workshop, Hiram, Maine, 2009.

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Participants apply glass top on hot water thermal panel, Hiram, Maine, 2009.

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Humble farm - Four of eight solar thermal panels are installed on rack, adjacent to the south wall of farm house -

November 2008.

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Jonesport, Maine, April 4, 2009,

MESEA PV assembly workshop :

Workshop participants solder first PV strings for 65W module to be assembled at the April 4, 2009 PV workshop at MESEA Solar Home - Jonesport, Maine.

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Bridgton, Maine- May, 2009 PV assembly workshop -

Rich Komp shows interested participants how strings of PV cells will be laid down for encapsulation. The Bridgton, Maine - May 2009 PV Workshop.

Bridgton, Maine PV assembly workshop, May 2009. Enthusiastic participants test the 65W PV module, before the final wiring and framing.

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Manhattan Comprehensive HS, PV workshop Series, June, 2009, New York City.

Diverse student group assembles PV module framing with MESEA - dadsolar facilitator John Burke - June 2009 - NYC.

Final wiring of 65W PV module at NYC HS program, held in conjunction with community group - Solar1.

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MESEA PV Workshop with Engineering Students- U. of Dayton, Ohio, 2009 -

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Dr. Komp pours silicone encapsulant mix onto PV cell strings, with engineering students -U. Dayton, OH, 2009.

Dadsolar workshop facilitator, John Burke, applying tempered glass to 65W PV module cells, U. Dayton, OH, 2009. 

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Students at the Manhattan Comprehensive HS, NYC, help John Burke of dadsolar and MESEA, March 2011, during the encapsulation process at PV assembly workshop.

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Full group of students and teachers show off the completed 65W PV module, assembled with dadsolar, MESEA and Solar1, at Manhattan Comprehensive HS, NYC, during March, 2011 PV assembly series.

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Sixth year at the Manhattan Comprehensive HS, NYC, MESEA and DADS work with the student group from around the world, assembling solar cells for the 65 W PV module.  ... March, 2014.

Here a few students work to solder the solar cells into the strings of 9 cells for the 4 x 9, 36 cell, 65W PV module.

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Students prepare a frame for final assembly, after wiring the module. The junction box and wires will be added last.

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We check the output of the popular, small, 6W cell phone charger, before checking the 65W module. The students enjoy working with solar cells and MESEA! Manhattan Comprehensive HS, New York City, March, 2014. John Burke, DADSolar.

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Members of Downeast Alternative Design Solar  (DADS), pose for photo with Environmental Certificate, presented in October, 2010. Now with IRS tax exempt status, (donations are tax deductable) ... contact us soon, thanks !

(Rich Komp, Jerry Blackburn, Walther Wefel and John Burke,  L - R, at Downeast Museum of Natural History, Harrington, ME).

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 Rich Komp and Soni Biehl, working on the 'new' PV / Thermal Hybrid innovation, Jonesport, Maine 2015.

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A hand-made, 65 W PV module made by folks with little skills as a first attempt at soldering solar cells.

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Community Solar can start small or with the finances available from the investors (stock photo)

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Sunset, Maine Coast, looking south from Jonesport Solar Home, Indian River Bay, Fall, 2016 !

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African Baobab trees are dying ! The old Baobabs are 1100 - 2500 years, and a dozen of the ancient ones have died, from Climate issues (drought).  The iconic trees are the biggest and longest-living flowering tree, and are extremely hard to kill ! We the People can take action to save all living things on our Earth ... and end the fossil fuel addiction !

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The view east from the south deck of the Downeast Solar Center, Jonesport, Maine. Solar PVpowers the solar home, built by Dr Richard Komp in the 1980s. We need to 're-build' the home to become the Komp Memorial Library & low-tech Solar Museum.

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We will continue to perfect the methods of inserting archival flyers, photos and drawings of DADS projects, demonstrations and memorabilia. Please bear with us while we reach for perfection.

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 The map service listed here below, may or may not have correct information ... please ask for detailed directions from a real live human being ...solar powered of course !

 See 'below' for message and 'contact' - through email, thanks.

Contact Info for dadsolar.com and Do-Yourself-Solar:

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E-mail - dadsolar@yahoo.com

 Phone - (207)546-1639 - cell

            (207)497-2204 - land line

          Web links :

www.mainesolar.org

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Please see this link for a video from our friends at the Beehive Design Collective, Machias, Maine ... in the Sunrise County, USA      : 

 http://www.upworthy.com/the-poster-is-mesmerizing-the-story-it-tells-is-electrifying-have-you-seen?g=2&c=ufb2

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65w PV module frame caulking, at humble farm, May '08.

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                   Fall 2018

 *** Attention ! ***

GO SOLAR ! ...  2018 !

Solar Workshops in Maine ...and Nicaragua -

In Maine, we're getting ready for  Fall 2018 - Solar PV assembly and PV / Thermal innovation ...

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Look here : for info and updates on Fall 2018 Solar Workshops !

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We are still on for the October 6, Saturday solar assembly workshop, as well as the 'Open House' Maine Solar Tour, at the Jonesport, Maine, Downeast Solar Center with 500W solar PV (some antique PV modules still working after a decade in the CA desert, 1970s). The Solar 'hypocaust' heat storage under the first floor, works automatically, with a solar powered fan everyday!

Call John, (207) 546-1639, RSVP

Since there were not enough participats for the first week, we had to cancel the intensive solar series, Oct. 2-5, 2018. Thank you.

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Saturday,October 6,2018  9:30am-5:30pm*      

A One Day Fall Solar PV Assembly Workshop

MESEA, SEADS and DADS (Downeast Alternative Design Solar), present a low-cost, solar PV assembly workshop, Saturday October 6, 2018, in conjunction with the Maine Solar Tour, Downeast Solar Center

Call John (207) 546-1639 for details, or check the website, dadsolar.com ...

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We are still on for the October 6, Saturday solar assembly workshop, as well as the 'Open House' Maine Solar Tour, at the Jonesport, Maine, Downeast Solar Center, (Dr Komp owner-builder).

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 Since there were not enough participats for the first week, we had to cancel the intensive solar series, Oct. 2-5, 2018. Thank you.

Call John (207) 546-1639 for details, or check the website, dadsolar.com ...

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Saturday, Oct 6, Maine Solar Tour

as part of the ASES National Solar Tour, (see ases.org).

 * Saturday, October 6, is the 'free' Maine Solar Tour day, with the Jonesport Passive Solar Home and PV modules on display. A unique 'hypocaust' fan system stores solar heat under the floor automatically every day.

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Here, the group discusses the 'off-grid' PV installation at Carols home, Cambridge, Maine. MESEA and DADSolar ... August, 2016.

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Fine tuning the homemade rack, attached with a rope to the old pine tree.  The small 130W 'rated' PV system, will allow the homeowner a 12V lighting option for her home and lower her CMP bills! Having lights during power outage, will be a definite advantage! Cambridge, ME, August, 2016 ... with MESEA and DADSolar!

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Please check MESEA seminar calendar at www.mainesolar.org for up to date info on PV and solar thermal workshops you and your family can participate in.

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Assemble 65w PV Modules with liquid Si encapsulation, using locally available materials and full power, recycled blemished solar PV cells!

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Winter / Spring / Summer / Fall - 2018

MESEA & DADS, will offer more PV assembly and Solar Thermal workshops.

Check here for details soon. Or check MESEA workshop calendar-

MESEA website - www.mainesolar.org

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MESEA - Solar PV workshop description:

Learn how to assemble your own Photovoltaic module for producing electricity. Richard Komp has pioneered PV module production as a cottage industry in Nicaragua, Mali, Haiti and India. In this workshop you'll get to participate in assembling a 65 Watt PV module, utilizing the encapsulation process, developed in Nicaragua with Suni Solar and Grupo Fenix, or using the new Solar Oven lamination process with EVA sheeting!

Depending on the number of participants, we will be making one or more 65 W modules, which are for charging 12 V battery systems (or in pairs, 24V) and thus are a good start for a small home or cabin PV system.

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John Burke, of DADS, Inc., will be co-facilitator. John has had many years of experience working in the solar field and has worked with the ARC Center in Harlem, NYC, developing a program to manufacture UL approved PV modules.

Rich Komp or other experienced MESEA workshop facilitator, may be co-facilitator.

For more information: phone: John (207) 546-1639;

or Downeast Solar Center (207) 497-2204, Jonesport, Maine

e-mail -dadsolar@yahoo.com

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 "Solar Culture Course" in Nicaragua -

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Experience 'Solar Culture' in Nicaragua:

Grupo Fenix Solar Culture Course in Nicaragua

   Summer 2018, or January 2019

see www.grupofenix.org/courses

Come to Nicaragua and engage your head, heart, and hands in the real work of developing countries. Our hands-on courses allow you to be immersed in the daily life of rural Nicaraguans by living with host families and working alongside local community members to create their vision of a model community, through renewable energy and sustainable practices.

Discuss the theory behind solar energy and the challenges of development with your instructors and other course participants over lunch. Spend your days learning how to construct solar cookers or install photovoltaic systems. Laugh along with your host family as you try to recall your high school Spanish, balance water on your head or make tortillas. Most activities and classes are held in the new adobe Solar Center. Housing will be simple, like that of a typical rural Nicaraguan family.

Explore a beautiful country and its culture, while learning about renewable energy and sustainable development in the field. Our courses provide a unique travel experience that is educational, rewarding, and fun!

This 11 day course, offered twice a year, has been offered by Grupo Fenix since 1999. It is a great introduction to the science and use of appropriate renewable energy technologies such as solar cookers, dryers and photovoltaic systems. Dr. Richard Komp, an expert from the United States with over 40 years experience working with solar technologies, teaches the technical classes for the January version of the course and may be a guest instructor for the July course.

Participants will: (partial list, subject to change)

• Visit SuniSolar, a renewable energy business in Managua started by Grupo Fenix
• Build a solar oven with the local womens group, the Solar Women of Totogalpa
• Listen to talks on Solar Dryers and Medicinal Plants
• Learn about solar cooking and eat the final product of your class!
• Install a PV system with local solar experts
• Make a solar powered battery charger

Also, the course includes various tourist activities such as a visit to nearby beautiful spots in the mountains of northern Nicaragua. If weather permits, we will spend a day exploring the Somoto Canyon and swimming in its natural pools. Also, at the end of the course we will spend a night at a rustic eco-lodge in the Tisey Nature Reserve, which has hiking trails, fields of organic vegetables, a farming community that produces its own specialty cheeses and one of the best panoramic views in the country.
The course fee of $995. includes all food and lodging, with a $50 deposit to be sent to the nonprofit Skyheat Associates at PO Box 184, Harrington, ME 04643... to insure a place in the course, which has a limit of 15 participants and is often completely full. For more information, please contact: thegrupofenix@gmail.com or sunwatt@juno.com, or look online at www.grupofenix.org, for details of all our programs.

For info on the next opportunity for a workshop, see Grupo Fenix at www.grupofenix.org/courses.html

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Nicaragua, 2018, 2019 ! ...     

Natural Building Workshop

Grupo Fenix

Natural Building Workshop, Please check for the next Natural Building Workshop on the Grupo Fenix site :

Wolfe's Neck Farm - Freeport, Maine - PV Training for trainers- June, 2009.

Participants prepare 3 x 12 strings for encapsulation, under the watchful eye of Rich Komp. WNF, Freeport, ME, June, 2009.

Six 65W PV modules installed at Wolfe's Neck Farm, Freeport, Maine. These modules power facilities in the work shed. The high school students in the "Green Energy" Program assembled the PV modules, Summer, 2009.

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Solar participants at Brooklyn Commons PV workshop, setting up strings of solar cells for encapsulation. The CitySolar group hosted the workshop, and 15 folks with diverse backgrounds had the hands-on experience and opportunity to learn how a PV module works. April, 2011.

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Solar PV workshop participants, April, 2011, pose for group portrait. PV assembly seminar presented by MeSEA & John Burke, at the Brooklyn Commons space, we thank Otto, who came to workshop from North Carolina, for the photo. (That's him on the right).
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Solar PV assembly workshop participant, soldering a string of 9 cells for 65W PV module. April, 2011, at the Brooklyn Commons, NYC. Photo by Otto, workshop hosted by CitySolar.

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Sunset, looking SW off the deck at the MESEA Solar Home, Jonesport, Maine ... 2014 !

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Update ! humble Farm, St George, Maine, adds more PV modules (30), to the Grid-connected solar array, on the home-made rack off the chicken house, 2015 ! Thanks humble Farmer !

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DADS, Inc. / do-yourself-solar -

Contact form below ...

 Please feel free to ask questions on our Solar Community Land-trust development program or this site. We'll respond promptly.

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 A painting showing what we need ... People, actively working to save the Earth for the future generations ! Our efforts will shrivel up and die, except for the younger folks with the mind to continue for a future ! Let's get it together, thank you !

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 A peaceful place, or so it looks from space ... the Earth from the Hubble telescope view, via NASA ... and will we manage another century ?

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People motivated for Change and Democracy ! Take to the Philadelphia streets, July 2016 ... Marching for a future and Climate Action ! The Democratic National Convention was ongoing !

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Cianbro, Pittsfield, Maine, Route 2 ... the largest Solar PV farm in Maine, as of 2018 ... 10 MW
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Another view of the Pittsfield Solar PV Farm, Rt 2

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  As the sun sets ... in the West, Mt. Blue State Park

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Here Is the 'Contact Us' form for easy communication for DADSolar & MESEA PV Assembly Workshops - Spring & Summer 2018 ! 

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Also available for your comments and communication for info on the Solar Community Land-trust development opportunity, and Downeast Solar Center info !