“If you did an internet search on the greater Detroit area, you'd see bad news—companies are closing, houses are being foreclosed on,” says Paul Schreiber, Mayor of Ypsilanti, Michigan. “However, where there are negative things going on, there's also opportunity.”
And that's exactly how Dave Strenski sees it, heading efforts to make the small town of Ypsilanti a solar power destination.
When Strenski got started, he didn't know a thing about solar. But that didn't stop him. Determined to make a change in his community, Strenski did some searching—through Google, of course. After finding a small grant from the State of Michigan, he used the funds to install his first system. The products available to track and monitor the amount of power being produced from the panels, however, would cost him thousands of more dollars that he didn't have, so he figured out a way to do it himself, free of charge.
Today, a map is provided of the various locations where solar power is being generated at any given time within the City on the Solar Ypsi website. Maintained with the help of volunteers, the number of solar installations continues to grow throughout the town.
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Last spring, Google found the Ypsilanti solar project in their search for cool projects that used “search.” After speaking with Strenski, they decided to visit Ypsilanti to film a short video about the project:
“My wildest dream is to have 100 locations in Ypsilanti, all on Solar Ypsi, all being tracked in real time,” says Strenski. “And Ypsilanti would be the place to come for solar information.”
It's amazing the things the internet can provide. “Search on,” says Google.
