In this special pledge drive edition of the Perpetual Notion Machine, we want to introduce you to a new feature of PNM called the Wisconsin Energy Broadcast. They will be presenting all kinds of topics related to renewable energy. And the show’s producers, Heather Allen and Nan Fey, are our guests. Heather and Nan describe the essential features of their show and give us some ideas of show topics that a listening audience would be interested in learning about. They aired their first show on Sept. 7th. You can listen to the show by going to the PNM webpage. But tonight Heather also gives us a taste of the show by talking with American Family Insurance about their recent solar energy installation on their headquarters building. Her guests are Sean Hyland, Dan Rosetta, and Linda Wagener. The project took about two years to plan and complete, and has about 4500 solar panels covering around three acres on the roof of the building and generating about 1.26 megawatts of energy. Many planning decisions went into the process of converting to solar energy including the decision to separate from the grid completely. Very interesting! You can listen to the conversation from the audio above. And you can catch the Wisconsin Energy Broadcast in the PNM time slot (7:00 – 7:30 pm) on the first Thursday of every month.

Besides generating renewable energy, Heather and Nan helped PNM’er Dennis Shaffer generate pledge donations to WORT. Thanks to everybody who pledged during the show. But please listen to us again on October 12th to continue pledging your support for science and WORT!