Bruce Cage of EcoDepot and Steve Streets of DayStar Construction stand triumphantly in front of the Waxwing after installing brand new solar panels.
Thanks to a grant from Avista Utilities, the PCEI Nature Center now boasts 22 brand-new solar panels on top of its (also new) Joel and Mary Jo Hamilton Patio roof (attached to the Waxwing building). These arrays are capable of producing an additional 6,270 watts (6,270 W) of power under ideal conditions, bringing the total number of watts capable of being produced at the PCEI Nature Center to 7,000.
These SolarWorld USA panels (along with Enphase Energy microinverters) were installed in June of 2015, and in July alone, they produced a whopping one million watt-hours (1,000,000 Wh) of electricity!
On March 21, 2013, the solar panels on the south side of the Jim LaFortune Memorial Groover officially went live. The 4-panel array can generate up to 800 watt hours (800 Wh) under ideal conditions. Net power usage for the Groover is estimated to be zero over the course of a year (uses of power in the building include lights, pumping stored rainwater for hand-washing, an exhaust fan and heaters).
The Jim LaFortune Memorial “Groover” not only generates compost. It generates electricity!
Thank You for Your Support!
Funding for the panels was provided in part by Avista Foundation and donations to the Jim LaFortune Memorial Fund. The panels were installed by Steve Streets from DayStar Construction and by Bruce Gage from EcoDepot.
Funding for the Waxwing panels was provided by Avista Utilities Buck-a-Block Program which allows customers to pay $1 per month for 300 kilowatt hours (300 kWh) of power from a wind, solar, or biomass energy source. The panels were installed by DayStar Construction and EcoDepot.
PCEI’s Solar Energy Production
Find out more about PCEI’s past and current solar energy production through this interactive dashboard. Click on the various buttons and sliders to see how energy production varies by month, day or hour and what that solar energy can power.