Update: Solar at LSC

Just before the holiday break professor Ben Luce and a crew of Sustainability students and professors put together the new Solar Array outside of LSC's Alumni House. Their hopes were to have all of the wiring connected and have the array fully functioning by the beginning of term January 17th. Professor Luce was happy to give an update on the solar array project.

According to Luce the project's wiring has not been completed just yet.

"We wanted a lot of student involvement," says Luce.

To keep the students as active participants in the project it was necessary to take a pause over the break leaving the majority of the work finished but the project incomplete.

"There has been a lot of preparation work just for the installation," Luce says.

The project has been over a year in the making if financing is considered not to mention excavating the site and stabilizing the bases of the solar panels. The Sustainability team simply ran out of time before many students left the area to return home for the holidays.

According to Luce, the final wiring and mounting of converter boxes should take no more than an afternoon. He wants the students to be the main electricians for the final piece of the project but ensures that there will be a licensed electrician on the scene to over-see the work being done and to make sure the wiring and installation is up to code regulations. 

"I am planning on setting up the electronics on a table here first so everyone can see and learn how it is going to be set up, and so they can learn the technical aspects like how the electrical work should be done for safety reasons," says Luce.

This project has been all about learning and will continue to be. The Sustainability students, possibly collaborating with the Meteorology students, will be the ones taking notes on the Solar Array, its output and the conditions in which it is working to convert solar energy. They will take the data they collect and use it to help create a simulation program specific to the conditions in the Northeast Kingdom.

If this first system goes well, there is entertainment of adding roof top solar arrays to the school's buildings to make the school even more eco-friendly however the best way to fund such a project is a concern as the college is a non-profit organization and therefore cannot take advantage of the tax incentives most businesses use when they install roof top solar arrays.

Professor Luce has told everyone to stay tuned to the progress of the solar array project and says there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony sometime in the near future.