State University of New York
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The Charge of the Light Brigade, Perhaps…or the Power of SUNY Sullivan
Loch Sheldrake (Feb. 14, 2011) SUNY Sullivan’s solar panels. You’ve heard about them. You’ve read about then. You might have even seen them. But what do they do and how can you tell?
The shroud is now lifted! You’re invited to see for yourself what all the good news is about. We invite you to monitor the performance of SUNY Sullivan’s 3 kW Photovoltaic Array on Lightgauge at http://lg514.d.lighthousesolar.com
The Photovoltaic (PV) Array is installed in SUNY Sullivan’s sustainability cluster which includes the college’s straw bale structure; community garden; geothermal pump house…which heats and cools the entire campus; and, soon, a small wind turbine will be up and running.
The PV Array was funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority through the SUNYGreensNY consortium of Alfred State and six community colleges to build sustainability training capacity across the state. It feeds the geothermal pump house, where it powers the lights and peripherals and then to the power grid. SUNY Sullivan uses it for instruction in our Green Building Maintenance and Management curriculum and for PV installer courses taught through our department of Workforce Development, Continuing Education & Lifelong Learning.
You can view the output, check to see if we are feeding the grid, monitor the environmental impact and even tell if it is sunny here at SUNY Sullivan.