Earlier this week, solar panels that were installed over the summer were plugged into the Colorado College Baca Campus; these panels will generate power for the campus and create extra energy that will go back into the grid.
The project was initiated last year when the homeowners association in Baca approached Colorado College about creating solar panels, partially as an example for how the rest of the community could follow suit.
Additionally, the Strategic Knowledge Development Team report recommended that Baca be converted to solar energy. The project became feasible when a board member offered to fund the project last spring.
In addition to making Baca completely solar-powered, the panels are a test run for a possible solar array at the main Colorado College campus.
“One of the recommendations from the Strategic Knowledge Development Team report was that we look at Baca as a net-zero campus first and use that system as a pilot for how the main campus works,” said Ian Johnson, the Campus Sustainability Manager.
Another aspect of the project is its incorporation into the NSO programs. This August, the volleyball, lacrosse, and soccer teams went to Baca for two weeks and built the foundations for the solar panels. This is part of an educational approach that the college’s Office of Sustainability has undertaken.
“We thought that having new students build the solar panels would be a great introduction to Colorado College and would allow them to be truly rooted in this place,” said Johnson.
Although there is no concrete information about the amount of energy that the panels are generating since this is the first week of data collection, the panels were sized for 100 percent of the townhouses at Baca, the conference center, the library, and faculty housing.
The panels function on a net meter, which means that although the energy generated by the panels is not stored, the energy that is fed back into the meter can be tracked to ensure that the panels are fully powering the campus.
“Obviously we’ll racking up energy in the summer and then burning it in the winter,” said Johnson. “But on a net level, Baca will be fully powered by solar once the panels are up and running.”
In addition to the solar panels, the gas water heaters at Baca have been replaced with electric ones so that the panels will cover the energy needed to heat water.