On July 20, the Sustainable Energy Education and Development Support organization based in Wayne County announced the Highlights Foundation will soon be powered by the sun.

Last month a group of SEEDS volunteers and the Foundation worked together to install a 33.3kW array on the roof of a building leased by the Foundation, next door to its Retreat Center in Milanville, Pennsylvania.

The volunteer effort lasted for six days and involved the installation of the scaffolding, roof rails, optimizers, wiring, and the photovoltaic (PV) solar panels themselves.

Overall, the project consisted of 90 roof-mounted, 370W solar panels, installed in 5 rows of 18 each.

“It was a lot of work,” said George Brown, Executive Director of The Highlights Foundation. “At first I was skeptical about the idea of having to get on a roof… But the experience of SEEDS’ volunteers, notably Jack Barnett, made this project safe and time-efficient. We expect it to save us approximately $2,300 per year and it will be nice to see those savings.”

This PV system is estimated to generate 38MWh or more of solar power each year, nearly the equivalent to the electricity used annually in 4 ‘average’ Pennsylvania homes.

This clean, renewable energy will avoid roughly 20 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions each year from entering the environment.

"We had so many volunteers climbing on the hot, steep metal roof, plus much help from the ground, that we got all 90 solar panels installed quickly,” said Jack Barnett. “To complete the electrical work, the Foundation has hired Buselli Solutions, who also sourced most of the other equipment for the project, and they expect to finish it next week. After inspection and PPL approval the array will be turned on and is expected to generate more than 20 percent of the annual electricity used at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center."

Through the use of volunteers from SEEDS and the Foundation, who planned, installed, and connected the array, as well as the use of refurbished PV panels, the cost for the project was minimized.

Jack Barnett (SEEDS), George & Parker Brown (Highlights), Kathy Dodge (SEEDS), Eli & Dave Harvey (SEEDS), Eric Johnson (Highlights), Chris LaFlamme (Highlights), Tad Moser (SEEDS), Garry Myers (Highlights), Joe & Luke Murray (Highlights), Jim Sanders (SEEDS), Pete Snyder (SEEDS), and Jamie Stunkard (SEEDS) all contributed the volunteer power.

Visit the Sustainable Energy Education and Development Support of Northeastern Pennsylvania website or follow them on Facebook

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[Posted: July 20, 2020]

7/27/2020