The Wright Times

Wright College parking garage view of solar panels.

Solar panels installed on the Science Building and parking garage is currently saving Wright money while providing education for students in the Environmental Technology 114 course. Grant money given by the Illinois Clean Energy Committee Foundation in the sum of $36,000 resulted in the installation of two new solar panels. One is located on the back of the parking garage; the other is located on the roof of the Science Building. Both are in operation and were installed on June 26. The solar panel attached to the parking garage is used to power the lights in the building while the panel located on top of the Science Building is used to heat water and replenish Wright's supply when needed. The total cost of this project was estimated around $60,000 and installation was done by a Chicago based company called Solar Services Inc. The $60,000 of the project was offset in a variety of different ways. In addition to the $36,000 donated by the Illinois Clean Energy Committee Foundation, $15,000 came from Capital Funding for City Colleges and $9,000 in rebates from the Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. "We went out and found the best price for installing the solar panels," Building Energy Technologies Instructor David Inemen said. The goal is to introduce the students to skills necessary to prepare, install, and operate various types of alternative energy systems and equipment, proving to be a vital tool in reaching the class objective. When it comes to saving money, the solar panel on the parking garage provides the campus with an average of 4-kilowatt hours of electricity per day,saving in toal 1,460 kilowatt-hours per year. The panel located on the Science Building, heats an average of 400 gallons of water per day ready to replenish the supply when needed which saves Wright the energy it would take to heat 146,000 gallons of water per year. Some of the key players in getting this idea off the ground were Chancellor Wayne Watson from the Committee of City Colleges, Wright College President Dr. Charles Guengerich, and Victoria Cooper, Director of Environmental Technology. A wind vane and anemometer have been placed on the parking garage roof to measure wind direction and speed. The purpose of these additions is to see if the school would benefit from a possible wind turbine. "I don't see a down side to it, it may seem like its not a large impact now but over the long run it will have a positive economic effect."

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