Texas Renewables '09 Conference
November 8-10, 2009
Austin, Texas
The Texas Renewables '09 Conference was held in Austin from November 8-10, 2009 with nearly 400 industry professionals, legislative members, and exhibitors participating. Here are some of the highlights:
Texas Renewables '09 Program, Sponsors, and Photographs
TREIA Policy Luncheon/Meeting
September 10, 2009
Austin, Texas
This workshop was held for TREIA Members at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Austin. The luncheon and meeting had about 50 members in attendance from all over the state and PUC Chairman Barry Smitherman was the luncheon speaker. After lunch, members broke into groups to discuss 2011 policy objectives involving their particular renewable sector(s) of interest. TREIA Members can login and click here to view the Agenda and Presentation from the workshop.
TREIA Stimulus Funding Workshop
August 18, 2009
Austin, Texas
This workshop was held for TREIA Members only at the OMNI Hotel Austin Southpark. The workshop was a standing room only success and drew over 110 people. TREIA Members can login and click here to view the Agenda, Attendee List, and Presentations from the workshop.
Rural Alliance for Renewable Energy (RARE) seminar on financing renewable energy projects in rural areas.
View the presentations online
RENEWABLE ENERGY MEASURES IN THE 81ST TEXAS LEGISLATURE - A SUMMATION
by Russel Smith, Executive Director, TREIA
June 8, 2009
Click here.
TREIA Presentation at National Association of Home Builders Conference
May 8 - 10, 2009
Dallas, Texas
"The Latest In Renewables"
panel discussion, organized and moderated by
Tom Fitzpatrick, Chair, TREIA Green Building & Geoexchange Subcommittee
Overview of Some Renewable Technologies for Residences
PowerPoint Presentation file (6.8 MB)
TREIA's Texas Energy Independence Week 2009 Activities
Texas Energy Independence Week '09 was held in and around the State Capitol in Austin from March 2-5, 2009 with a variety of industry professionals, legislative members, and exhibitors participating.
Texas Energy Independence Week '09 Pictures and Presentations
TREIA's Texas Renewables 2008 Conference
The Texas Renewables '08 Conference was held in Austin from November 9-11, 2008 with nearly 400 industry professionals, legislative members, and exhibitors participating. Here are some of the highlights:
Texas Renewables '08 Program, Sponsors, Photographs, and Presentations
SMU Geothermal 2008 Conference
The SMU Geothermal Conference was held at the James Collins Education Center in Dallas, Texas on June 17-18, 2008 and featured over 30 speakers and posters.
SMU Geothermal Conference 2008 Presentations
TREIA Members Stand Out: Windpower 2008 Conference Member's Photo Album
With a record-breaking 776 exhibitors and over 13,000 registrants, WINDPOWER 2008 Conference & Exhibition was nearly twice the size of last year's event in Los Angeles. The Windpower 2008 Conference was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on June 1-4, 2008.
WindPower 2008 TREIA Members Photo Album
TREIA's Texas Forum - The Renewable Energy Frontier: Developing America's Largest Renewable Resource Region
The Texas Forum 2008 Conference was held at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, on March 18, 2008, as a preliminary event before the GlobalCon 2008 conference. Here are some of the highlights:
Texas Forum 2008 Agenda and Presentations
Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Resolution Supporting Wind Energy - January 2008
TREIA's Texas Renewables 2007 Conference
The Texas Renewables 2007 Conference was held in Abilene in November 2007. Here are some of the highlights:
TR '07 Presentations
TREIA 2007 Awards
Home Owner's Association Model Guidelines for Solar Installations
Model Solar System Installation Guideline
It is not an uncommon experience today for homeowners wishing to install a solar photovoltaic (PV) electric power system, a solar water heating system, or a solar swimming pool heater, to find they are prevented from doing so. Community or Homeowner’s Association codes, covenants and restrictions often include language that hampers the homeowner’s ability to install such systems. In some cases the language specifically forbids such installations.
Communities do have valid concerns regarding aesthetics and the protection of property values when installing solar energy systems. For that reason, the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association (TREIA) through its Texas Million Solar Roofs Partnership (TMSRP) has developed simple standards with model language to ensure that solar energy systems are installed in a manner that is balanced between aesthetics and proper solar installation procedures.
Solar water heating for homes and swimming pools is providing cost effective, clean and sustainable energy for hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of homeowners across the U.S., land many millions around the world. PV electric generation systems are said to be the fastest growing energy technology in the world. Tens of thousands of homeowners are choosing to add enough clean, silent PV to their homes to give them a secure and dependable source of power for their most important loads no matter what happens to the electric utility grid. And PV generates the most power during the time of day when the power grid is experiencing the greatest stress, thereby helping the utility and the community by reducing that peak demand. By recognizing the benefits of solar energy systems to homeowners and the community, and by incorporating standards language into Homeowner’s Association bylaws and local codes and covenants, solar energy can play a greater role in our everyday lives.
If you are interested in installing solar and find yourself facing some of the difficulties described above, please consider proposing the model language below. It is simple, efficient, and provides the least negative impact for your neighborhood. Also included below is the development philosophy from The Woodlands, Texas – a good example of how one community feels about its responsibility to promote a quality of life for its residents.
TREIA is prepared to provide you with technical support to help you incorporate this language into your existing codes and covenants. Additionally, we would be pleased to visit your homeowner’s association and present the benefits of this to your board of administrators. For details, contact Russel Smith during the day at 512.345.5446, or by email at R1346@aol.com.
Language for Inclusion in Home Owner Association Bylaws and Community Codes, Covenants and Restrictions
Solar Collectors. Collectors will be permitted on the street-side slope of a roof only if they are of a flat profile, conform to the slope of the roof, and are placed so that the top edge of the collector is parallel to the roof ridge. No part of the installation may be visible above the roof line. Collector frames support brackets and any exposed piping must be painted to match or be compatible with the roofing material.*
Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association / Texas Million Solar Roofs Partnership - 2003
* This language was generated by consensus through group sessions with companies having long experience in installing solar energy systems in neighborhoods, and through analysis of solar provisions in several sets of existing community, neighborhood and home owner association bylaws, codes and covenants.
The Woodlands Example
The Woodlands, north of Houston, is one example of a community that specifically allows solar energy system installations. The quote below is but an introduction to covenants and standards that foster a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable community.
"The Woodlands Covenants and these Residential Development Standards have been designed to put into place procedures that will carry forward The Woodlands development philosophy while enhancing the quality of life. They:
- encourage environmental excellence;
- preserve the design integrity and architectural quality of Woodlands dwellings;
- prevent the deterioration of neighborhoods which inevitably follows an unregulated, laissez-faire philosophy of construction, maintenance and property use; and
- uphold property values."
The woodlands has over 50 solar installations (solar hot water, photovoltaics, swimming pool heating), and feels comfortable enough with solar systems to include installation of them in their expedited permitting process.
Approvals (One-Step Permit)
The following improvements are eligible for one-step permits:
- color change involving not more than 2 colors
- change from wood shake to composition roofing
- installation of shutters
- solar collectors located on the rear of the dwelling
