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LSC to harvest the sun, reduce energy costs

By Sean Siciliano

On April 21, 2011

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Solar panels are coming to Lyndon State College to help add power to the campus.

With a grant that the college received from the Department of Energy through Bernie Sanders, the college will be putting in a five-kilowatt solar array.

The panels will go between the alumni house and the tennis courts. This system will not directly power anything by itself but it will add to power for the college, so that it can help offset the electrical load the college.

The panels are 25 ft. by 15 ft. and the amount of energy is enough to power a normal-sized house.

The installation of this system is a learning experience, not for the installer or the company but for the students. Students are going to be helping to put it in and learning how these systems operate hands-on.

"We planned on having this in place this semester but it is taking longer than planned because of the permits," Ben Luce, a professor in the environmental science department said.

The panel installation may be pushed another semester so that students can help put in and learn from the experience.

Despite the delay, the solar panels and the other components should be here within the next week.

Brian Stone, a sophomore in an energy, environment and society class, is looking forward to being a part of the experience.

"It is cool that after learning about all the different ways to save energy I can actually put into use and see how these things work," he said.

This system will be pole-mounted and will have the ability to be manually tilted during the different seasons, known as the seasonal tilt system. The panels are going to be monitored and maintained by the students to make sure that they are producing the maximum amount of energy that they.

Additionally, LSC is in the early stages of a wood chip heating system. This system would cut down on the oil consumption all over campus. Another money-saving possibility is a large solar hot water system for the pool.