September 7, 2025
Santa Fe Community College promoted a Small Solar PV and Wind Energy system workshop in their Continuing Education Fall Catalog. Attendees spent the morning in a classroom setting learning the theory of solar and wind energy site analysis and system sizing. Instructors Mark Randall and Andrew Rodke led the group through the fundamentals of DC and AC electricity, solar photovoltaics and wind energy generation. After lunch, the groups assembled a 400Watt wind turbine, soldered connecting wires, assembled a tilt-up wind turbine mast, mounted the turbine to the mast and raised it up. The group then assembled two 100 watt PV solar panels to a mounting rack and wired all of the components together to complete a working system. The solar panels and the wind turbine supplied energy to the charge controller, battery and Inverter to power DC (LED lights) and AC (an electric fan) devices. At the end of the day the group visited an identical solar and wind hybrid system installed on the Sunrise Treehouse at Santa Fe Treehouse Camp to see an actual installation.
