Skyheat started out as a location and a building, rather than as a non-profit organization. In 1974, during the first years of the "Energy Crisis", a group of people purchased 124 acres in Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana and started construction of a group workshop building. The individuals and families involved were planning on building their own dwellings but decided to first build this central building in order to share workshop space and to have a base of operations during the construction of the homes. Using an existing log cabin as a temporary camp dwelling, the group spent the better part of two years constructing this very large workshop building, that incorporated both passive solar elements and a very large active trickle down solar water heating system for both domestic hot water and winter heating. The large building came to be know as "Skyheat". When two members of the group, Richard and Larry Komp, went to a meeting organized by the National Bureau of Standards to bring together solar practitioners to address the problems of the Energy Crisis, they were told that they had to represent an organization. Thus, they invented the name "Skyheat Associates" on the spot. Later, they filed the papers with the state of Indiana and the IRS and completed the process to legally incorporate Skyheat Associates as a non-profit organization. The first Skyheat Associates photovoltaic workshop was in 1980, organized in connection with Governor's State University in Park Forest, Illinois. Continuing through the 1980's, Skyheat offered workshops on all aspects of solar energy, including photovoltaics, active solar air heating, solar water heating and passive solar. These weekend workshops were held both in the Skyheat workshop center in southern Indiana and in many other locations apall over the US and other parts of the World. The first photovoltaic/hot water hybrid collectors were designed and tested at Skyheat's Studio/Shop building, and other innovative solar systems were experimented on there. The 1980's were a difficult time for research in solar energy since the Federal Government was no longer supporting the technology—the solar tax credits had ended and the price of oil had dropped considerably. Skyheat solar workshops were dropped for lack of interest. Finally in 1988, the land and building were sold and Richard Komp moved to Maine and became active in the Maine Solar Energy Association (MESEA). At this time, Skyheat Associates was revived with the help of other MESEA members and the workshops were once more offered. Skyheat continues to have an active workshop schedule in Maine and worldwide, giving solar workshops recently in California, England and South Africa as well as Latin America. In 1996, Susan Kinne from the Universidad Nacional de Ingenierķa in Managua, Nicaragua wrote Richard Komp asking if it were possible to build photovoltaic modules in developing countries like Nicaragua. This contact has led to a strong and fruitful partnership between Skyheat Associates and Grupo Fenix. Skyheat Associates serves as an important conduit for the raising and funneling of donations and grant money to the Nicaraguan Grupo Fenix and serves as one of the major contacts between the Grupo Fenix and the interested volunteers in the United States. Fenix-Skyheat collaborations have included solar workshops in Haiti, given in connection with the nonprofit SEED group, and a set of workshops in Mali, west Africa, which has led to the formation of Afriqpower, a micro-enterprise working with photovoltaic as a "cottage industry". |
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