Though the power companies claim Wisconsin doesn't have enough sunlight to make solar power worth it, they are ignoring the fact that the largest user of solar power in the world is Germany, a country not known for sunny days. (click here to see what we mean!) Wisconsin has as much or more sun than the country of Germany, but we're still being told that it's not enough by those who stand to lose if we move toward residential solar.

Watch this video of residents in Florida  (click here) who have installed solar panels and lowered their electric bill to $3.00 a month! It's true that Florida has more sun, but they need a lot of air conditioning too. The panels give them enough power to continue to live as they have always lived. The power company can't be happy about it, but they are and so is the environment. 

 To see the NBC video, click here

On top of that they have captured harmful green house gasses, kept nitrates out of their waterways and have a salable clean-by product of potting soil!

Here's what the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had to say about it in June 

Farm's new juice isn't moo

Methane from cow manure generates sustainable electricity

By BILL GLAUBER
bglauber@journalsentinel.com

Posted: June 25, 2007

Waterloo - At the Crave Brothers Dairy Farm, they grow corn and soybeans on 1,600 rolling acres of prime Wisconsin farmland, raise a herd of 750 dairy cows and produce prize-winning cheeses out of milk pumped straight from farm to factory.

But this year, the four Crave brothers added a new line to their family-run agribusiness.

They're turning manure into enough electricity to power 200 homes.

With the flick of a keystroke on a computer, Gov. Jim Doyle literally threw the switch Monday for the ceremonial start-up of an anaerobic digester at the sprawling Crave Brothers farm.

Why is this digester any different from the 23 others scattered around the state?

For one thing, it's fully automated. For another, the operation can be monitored from a computer desktop in Milwaukee, home to Clear Horizons and its holding company, PPC Partners, which bankrolled and built the $2 million digester.

Now, if they could just figure out a way to make a profit.

Richard R. Pieper Sr., chairman of the holding company, figures it costs 20 cents per kilowatt hour to produce energy at the Crave Brothers farm, but the firm receives only 5 cents per kilowatt hour from the local power company.

That's a pretty big loss leader.

"The wind people get 12 cents," Pieper said. "Solar gets 22 cents. We get a nickel. Give us those rates (wind and solar), and we can build more of these."

But Pieper is optimistic the venture can become profitable as well as do some good in helping the United States wean itself from foreign oil.

That's a point driven home by the governor.

"We want to produce 25 percent of our power from renewable resources by 2025," Doyle said.

Doyle said "it's not a pipe dream" to believe Clear Horizons' estimates that Wisconsin's agriculture industry has the potential to generate enough biogas to power 175,000 homes.

Even as a loss leader, though, the digester accomplishes quite a bit.

Take the manure, please.

There's around 1 million gallons of the stuff sitting in a massive holding tank and, amazingly, not much of a smell. The manure is heated at 105 degrees and breaks down over a month. Methane rises to the top to produce biogas, which is then used to generate electricity.

A couple of other products are also created. Liquid is used as fertilizer on the farm. Other solid material is used as bedding for the cows.

And, finally, a line of organic potting mixes is served up. It's called EnerGro.

Charles Crave, who oversees the farm's finances, said turning manure into power has been a dream of his for 25 years.

"You take a farmer's dreams and a visionary like Dick (Pieper) and you keep talking and talking, you finally get the job done," Crave said.

In a barn the length of a football field, the cows stand on slotted floors. Manure flows away through gravity.

No muss, no fuss.

"When you're handling many millions of gallons of manure, any way to handle that risk is helpful," Crave said. "What is in this for us is manure management, odor reduction. And a chance to move the operation forward using modern technology."

Amazing what you can do with 1 million gallons of manure and $2 million of investment.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24071014#24071014

‘Digesters’ use methane to make, sell electricity and reduce pollution

Gary Boyke shows off a methane digester on his dairy farm near Fond du Lac, Wis. It takes cow manure and turns it into energy.

MILWAUKEE - When dairy farmer Gary Boyke looks out at the manure his herd produces, he sees the prospect of profits rather than waste, odors and water pollution.

Boyke is one of a growing number of farmers turning animal waste into energy, and he’s spreading the word to others. He will be among those giving presentations at a conference Tuesday in Madison on ways farmers can turn manure into money.

Boyke, who has 1,300 cows on his Vir-Clar Farm near Fond du Lac, said he gets two to three times the energy he needs with an anaerobic digester, which uses bacteria on manure to produce a gas containing methane to power generators.

He sells it to a Madison-based utility and then buys back what he needs. He said the device produces enough power for 330 homes.

“I think we’re just on the verge of something that is going to be big in the future,” he said.

This story is from MSNBC. CLICK HERE to read the whole article.

Gary Boyke shows off a pile of the sterile byproduct from his methane digester on his dairy farm near Fond du Lac, Wis. The byproduct can be used for landscaping and cattle bedding.