The precise origins of the Solar Resource Energy Alliance, a non-profit, membership organization, are not documented in its records, but it is believed to date to 1978. It is known that SERA was incorporated in June 1979 in Green Bay as the Wisconsin Solar Resource Advisory Panel (SRAP) and that it was funded through the Department of Energy by the Mid-American Solar Energy Complex (MASEC) to advise them on their solar commercialization, energy conservation, and solar technology programs in Wisconsin. The organization was originally headed by William Hurrle of Green Bay. Other board members were Nancy Korda, a fresh water biologist; Vern Hellenbrand, a gubernatorial appointee to the MASEC Board of directors; and Bonnie Albright, the state's solar coordinator and original organizer of SERA.
In 1980 the organization moved to Madison and elected Michael (Mikal) Ducey as president. Ducey had already been involved in energy organizations in Madison as head of the Alternative Power Alliance, a network of energy reform activists organized in 1978.
During the period SERA was funded by MASEC it identified itself as part of the small business network within the solar industry, and it served MASEC as a network of renewable energy experts. Cuts in the Department of Energy budget in 1981 forced SERA to attempt to reshape itself as a self-sufficient solar support group. As a result, it became more of a membership-based, grass roots organization providing information on solar energy and alternative energy possibilities to individuals and organizations around the state. A subcommittee of SERA worked on developing and assisting in the passage of renewable resource legislation for Wisconsin. In 1981 their primary focus was the solar access bill. One of SERA's most important activities was WisconSUN CENTRAL, a hot line about solar products and services. During its most active period, SERA was also a project-oriented organization with the majority of its efforts focused on Madison. Ducey was integral to the design and adoption of the Energy Plan for the City of Madison. SERA also testified against an Madison Gas 8 Electric rate increase at public hearings, worked with the Citizen's Utility Board on the Capital Center Project, coordinated a speakers' bureau, and published the Wisconsin Solar News as a cooperative effort with the Office of State Planning and Energy of the Department of Administration. Due to continued state and national budget cuts, SERA dissolved in 1982.
