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concepts · updated 2026-07-19

New Mexico Solar Energy Association (NMSEA)

confidence: medium volatility: warm verified: 2026-07-19fresh

NMSEA is a 501(c)(3) solar-education nonprofit co-founded by Steve Baer, Peter Van Dresser, and Ken Haggard at Ghost Ranch in 1972 — one of the earliest regional solar organizations in the U.S. and the New Mexico chapter of ASES. It runs passive-solar and renewable-energy education across the Albuquerque/Los Ranchos area and publishes the SunPaper, where Baer placed several archive articles.

The New Mexico Solar Energy Association is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit and the New Mexico state chapter of ASES (the American Solar Energy Society). It is the institutional descendant of the same New Mexico passive-solar movement this archive documents — Steve Baer helped found it in 1972 and published in its newsletter for decades.

Founding (1972)

NMSEA was co-founded in 1972 at Ghost Ranch by Steve Baer, Peter Van Dresser, and Ken Haggard — one of the earliest regional solar-energy organizations in the United States. Baer hosted the first “Life Technic” conference at Ghost Ranch the same year. The association went on to host significant gatherings, including an early ASES national conference in Albuquerque.

This founding places NMSEA at the institutional root of New Mexico’s role as the birthplace of modern passive-solar practice — the same milieu that produced the Baer House and Zomeworks.

Mission and programs

NMSEA’s stated mission is “to educate, empower, advocate, and collaborate for clean renewable energy.” Its public-education work includes:

  • Curriculum: Going Solar, Energy 101, and Solar Basics — covering photovoltaics, solar thermal, passive solar, and solar cooking
  • School outreach: the Sun Chaser educational trailer and SunCatcher school visits; renewable-energy lectures and Kill-A-Watt classroom materials
  • Community demonstrations: solar-cooking demos, passive-solar architecture showcases, and agrivoltaic field trips
  • Advocacy: Climate Solutions Day at the New Mexico Roundhouse and community-solar support

Recurring events include the Solar Fiesta, participation in the National Solar Tour, Earth Day demonstrations, and an annual meeting.

The SunPaper

NMSEA publishes the SunPaper newsletter, a recurring venue for Baer’s writing. Two archive pieces trace directly to it: Baer’s argument for unglazed collectors (SunPaper, March/April 2003) and the pump-free thermosiphon shower field test he documented for the association. The SunPaper is a primary channel through which Baer’s late-career passive-solar thinking reached a regional audience.

Albuquerque / Los Ranchos relevance

NMSEA’s activities center on the Albuquerque and Los Ranchos area, and it already partners with North Valley farms — Los Poblanos and the Rio Grande Community Farm — a short distance from the Larry P. Abraham Agri-Nature Center. That existing footprint, plus its turnkey school-outreach programs and direct lineage back to Baer, makes NMSEA the natural education and programming partner for the proposed Double Play demonstration building at the Agri-Nature Center.

Website: nmsolar.org · Contact: P.O. Box 3434, Albuquerque, NM 87190 · staff@nmsolar.org

See also

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