Event Recap: Sun Day Triangle Festival
The weather cooperated. That was the first victory.
We’ve hosted many rainy-day events here, but for Sun Day Triangle Festival, a community event that was part of a national day of action to promote and celebrate renewable energy, the sun shone brightly–as though it understood that it was part of the programming.
Over the course of the afternoon, more than 150 guests showed up to hear speakers share insights about the clean energy movement, visit with representatives from local organizations, and explore our solar-powered farm. Kids drew sunshine sidewalk chalk art, made UV-bead bracelets, and got their faces painted. Adults perused books about clean energy at the pop-up bookstore, and took a screen-printed poster as a memento of the day. There was a sense of optimism, excitement and momentum in the air; a much-needed vibe-shift for many of the clean energy advocates and workers in attendance who have, in recent months, been beleaguered by major changes in policy and attitude toward renewable energy.
Recent legislation at the federal and state levels have removed the incentives that were helping to drive renewable energy forward. Solar and wind power projects have been halted, tax rebates are sunsetting years ahead of schedule, and the North Carolina General Assembly has voted to abandon Duke Energy’s previously set carbon emissions reduction requirement and approved utility fee increases to customers.
But despite the opposing headwinds, there’s still tremendous momentum behind solar energy. Here are five takeaways from our day of celebrating the power of the sun!
We shared our experience as an off-grid solar-powered farm! Our Container Barn’s solar array - 144 solar panels and 18 Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries - provides consistent power to our operations, including lights, HVAC, a full kitchen, a greenhouse, a walk-in cooler, and an on-site wastewater treatment system. But it also requires thoughtful management and conservation education to stay within the limits of our power generation, particularly in the winter months. Building designer Will Alphin spoke with Paul Safrit, solar installer with Southern Energy Management (the firm that installed the solar array at our farm) about how important it is to have community spaces like Burkett Farm that raise the bar of sustainable design.
Jessica Reid, senior sustainability strategist from the City of Raleigh, shared some of highlights from the city’s just-released Community Climate Action Plan, including prioritizing solar installations on city buildings and transitioning to a renewable energy-powered bus fleet.
Matt Abele, executive director of NC Sustainable Energy Association, noted the undeniable market upside of renewable energy to meet increased production demands. As states vie to attract investment dollars from proposed new AI-driven data centers, solar plus battery storage systems are the fastest and cheapest ways to meet the energy needs of these developments.
In a conversation about agrivoltaics, panelists didn’t shy away from sharing some of the challenges of resource-sharing between solar production and farming. But the upsides are worth the work of solving some of the challenges. Ajulo Othow spoke to the opportunities for rural communities in terms of economic development and land conservation, as well as energy independence and stressed the importance of building community relationships; Cooper Godwin shared his research in creating new technology to improve crop yields of plants grown in conjunction with solar arrays; and Brock Phillips shared insight on how solar grazing can be an additional stream of income for sheep farmers, or an entry point for farmers who don’t have their own land.
A special thank you to our co-hosts, REdesign.build and Southern Energy Management, for helping us plan and execute this special day!
And many thanks to our speakers and partners for their contributions!
Speaker Tent:
Matt Abele, NC Sustainable Energy Association
Ajulo Othow, EnerWealth Solutions, LLC
Paul Safrit, Southern Energy Management
Cooper Godwin, North Carolina State University
Brock Phillips, Urban Grid
Will Alphin, REdesign.build
Jessica Reid, City of Raleigh Municipal Government
Maria Kingery, 360Impact
Container Barn:
Atkowa Indigenous Catering
NC League of Conservation Voters
A Place at the Table
Super G Print Lab
We also want to thank our amazing volunteers and staff for their hard work in bringing this event to life!