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Daniel B. Botkin

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Solar Energy Where It’s COLD Outside

August 9, 2013 By Daniel Botkin Leave a Comment

Houghton PV array
Solar energy receptors on a home in Houghton, Michigan

For most people, the very north of Michigan, the Keweenaw Peninsula, on the shore of Lake Superior, might seem an unlikely place to get electricity from solar energy. But Professor Rolf Peterson of Michigan Technical University, well-known for leading the long-term study of wolves of Isle Royale National Park, thought differently.  He installed a photovoltaic system on his house in Houghton, MI.  Houghton, on the Keweenaw Peninsula and the home of Michigan Tech, gets 12 feet of snow, has 179 cloudy days, and has an average January low temperature is 8°F.  

 It’s common to believe that solar energy can be useful only in hot and very sunny places, like California and Arizona.  But Professor Peterson’s data shows that solar energy can be a net energy benefit (see the graph below).

Houghton MI home solar energy
The photovoltaic system on the home in Houghton, MI, is productive throughout the year (blue dots in the graph) and exceeds the home use of electricity (red dots). On an annual basis (green dots), more electricity is obtained from the solar energy system than the home uses.

 True, Houghton warms up in the summer, its average July low is 55° F, its average July high is 76° F.  But it’s generally a cold and rather cloudy place.  I’m familiar with it because Houghton is the jumping-off place to Isle Royale National Park, where I did research for five years.

Relief map of Michigan Keweenaw Peninsula
Map of Michigan, showing the Keweenaw Peninsula
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From Daniel B. Botkin, Ph.D

Daniel Botkin
I believe we are mostly on the wrong track in the way we try to deal with the environment. Everything I do, study, learn, and advise about the environment is different from the status quo. Throughout my career, I have tried to understand how nature works and use that understanding to figure out how we can solve our most pressing environmental problems.

My process over the past 45 years has been to look carefully at the facts, make simple calculations from them (sometimes simple computer models) and then tell people what I have learned. It’s surprising how rarely people bother to look at the facts. This has surprised me every time I’ve started a new ecology research project or work on an environmental issue.

In the course of my work and studies, I have learned many things and I want to tell you about them. That is the purpose of this website.

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Books by Dan Botkin

The Moon in the Nautilus Shell  Strange Encounters
Powering the Future  No Man's Garden
See all books by Dan Botkin

Jabowa III Forest Model


Jabowa Forest Model
Jabowa Forest Model for Windows 7.
This forest model, used around the world, was developed first in 1970 by Daniel B. Botkin, James F. Janak and James R. Wallis

JABOWA remains the most completely detailed and well validated forest growth model available, accounting for 95% or more of the variation in real forests where it has been tested.

The book Forest Dynamics: An Ecological Model (available as an eBook) provides a complete description of the model and the rationales behind its development.

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Sea Ice Study

The Bockstoce and Botkin Historical Sea Ice Data Study has a new home at the University of Alaska website. The data include more than 52,000 daily observations in an unbroken 65 year record from 1849 – 1914.

See related papers

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