The new photovoltaic module developed by the ULMA Agrícola consortium, the innovation area of the ULMA Group, and Tecnalia allows electricity to be generated without the crops being affected by over-shading. Depending on the season of the year, solar radiation can be diverted by taking advantage of the annual oscillation in the height of the sun’s trajectory; this is achieved through a lens-based optical system. Without the need for any solar mechanical monitoring, the technology allows the needs imposed by any crop to be met. So during the winter (October-February), the light inside the greenhouse, a key parameter for correct plant development, barely falls. But in summer the optical system diverts solar radiation towards the photovoltaic cells that make up the module, thus achieving a dual aim: to provide the greenhouse with cooling during the critical period of high temperatures and to increase electricity production through the photovoltaic system.

So the new module allows photovoltaic equipment to coexist with crops. What is more, it acts as an element for the seasonal control of the radiation and interior temperature of the greenhouse, apart from constituting additional support for the farmer’s economic activity through the sale and/or private use of the energy obtained.

The technology developed enables the problems associated with winter over-shading and summer radiation to be avoided in a simple, robust and effective way.

The solar-energy system has been functioning from late December. It is expected to lower W&L’s electricity consumption by 3%, annually. The solar PV arrays are part of the University’s endeavor to reduce its generation of greenhouse-gases by 20% over a period of 5 years.

Secure Futures LLC, owns the solar-energy system. It is operating the panels through Lexington Solar, its subsidiary. The North Carolina-based Southern Energy Management has performed the installation and is maintaining the 325 kW Lewis Hall PV system, which is made up of 1,016 SunPower solar PV panels. The parking deck installation has been executed by Standard Solar, which will also take care of its maintenance. The parking deck features 540 Sanyo solar PV panels, which are installed on a steel canopy over the parking deck.

Real time data from the solar-energy system is available on the W&L University’s web-based dashboard. The dashboard provides data about benefits to the environment and has a graphic display of the solar-energy generation from both the arrays.

Lexington Solar and the W&L University have entered into a lease agreement for the solar-energy system for a period of 20 years. The long period of lease has helped reduce the initial upfront cost and has also spread the project cost. Secure Futures helped the University in obtaining state and federal incentives, which have made solar-energy project economically viable.

The city of Lexington has granted a tax exemption for 20 years for the equipment. Using funds from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the project has been awarded an incentive grant by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.

The solar panel installation will generate up to 90 percent of energy needs for four schools and the district office, offsetting 1,377 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions – the equivalent of planting over 220 football fields worth of pine forests.
With school budgets tight, the district says that the utility savings give it much needed relief.
Oak Grove has looked towards innovation as a way to maximize every taxpayer dollar. The savings being generated can now be reinvested into our classrooms where it belongs.”

Photos by Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times
A Washington and Lee parking garage has more than 500 new solar panels that generate some 120 kilowatts at peak performance. In combination with the larger solar array on the roof of the law school, the energy produced will provide about 3 percent of the university’s electricity needs.

Grant Gotlinger with Got Electric of Gaithersburg, Md., installs solar panels on a parking garage at Washington and Lee University. Gotlinger said his small company has doubled in size over the past two years because of interest in solar power.

Washington and Lee University’s solar panels are being installed through a lease agreement with Secure Futures of Staunton. School officials said the array is the largest project of its kind in the state and will place it among the top 10 private schools in the nation for the use of solar power.
LEXINGTON — Two separate arrays, one atop Lewis Hall and another that looms over Washington and Lee University’s parking deck, deploy a total of 1,572 high-efficiency photo-voltaic panels aimed to soak in the sun and convert the solar energy to electricity.
The systems, owned by Staunton-based Secure Futures LLC and installed by contractors during the past two months, could begin supplying power to the private university before the year’s end.
Scott Beebe, W&L’s director of facilities management, said the university’s leased arrays now constitute the state’s largest solar photo-voltaic project — providing enough electricity to theoretically supply the average annual electricity needs for 44 homes in Lexington.
Or, more relevantly, enough juice to power Lewis Hall, host to the law school, and, separately, the parking deck, which has lights, exhaust fans and elevators. Anything left over will provide power for neighboring buildings, Beebe said.
Estimates suggest the solar arrays will cover about 3 percent of the university’s electricity needs. Last year W&L spent about $1.65 million on electricity it purchased from Dominion Virginia Power, Beebe said, for an average of 7 cents per kilowatt hour.
Beebe said the university is in the process of finalizing the lease agreement with Secure Futures for a 20-year term on the two structures. He would not disclose terms of the agreement but said the combination of the scheduled output from the array and the potential value of renewable energy credits made the contract a viable economic option for W&L.
He and university officials say the impressive arrays represent more than just an effort to generate power at a predictable price.
“We are demonstrating to our students the sustainable efforts of the university,” Beebe said.
And the parking deck’s high visibility also will offer visitors evidence of W&L’s commitment to be a more sustainable campus, he said.
In early August, when W&L first announced the deal with Secure Futures, a news release quoted Kenneth Ruscio, the university’s president. He said the arrangement provided “another instance of how we are aligning our institutional practices with what we preach to our students about their duties as responsible citizens and their obligations to future generations.”
Lewis Hall supports the larger array. The 1,032 photo-voltaic panels there, manufactured by SunPower Corp., will offer at peak performance a generation capacity of 330 kilowatts. The parking garage’s 540 panels, made by Sanyo, will have a capacity to generate 120 kilowatts.
In Harrisonburg, Eastern Mennonite University hosts what reportedly was once the state’s largest solar photo-voltaic deployment, with a 104-kilowatt installation on the roof of the Hartzler Library. As at W&L, Secure Futures owns and operates the Eastern Mennonite installation through a subsidiary.
Ken Jurman, renewable energy program manager with the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, said in an email that the EMU project has recently been eclipsed by two projects — 160-kilowatt and 170-kilowatt parking deck canopies — at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Jurman confirmed that W&L’s combined arrays will take the lead as the state’s largest project, adding he was not aware of a larger project in the works.
On Nov. 30, workers from Got Electric, based in Gaithersburg, Md., were installing photo-voltaic panels atop a steel canopy erected at the university’s parking deck. Grant Gotlinger said his small contracting company has found a niche in solar work and that he has recently hired seven people.
“We’ve doubled in size in the last two years because of solar,” Gotlinger said.
Meanwhile, W&L has taken on other sustainability initiatives across campus, including, among other efforts, composting, focusing on using local and organic foods, emphasizing energy conservation, using fewer resources and generating less waste.
Beebe said his research suggests W&L falls within the top 10 percent of private schools nationally for the combined size of its solar arrays.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/301981

Each panel is going up above the parking deck.
There are 540 of them.

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“You want to have a southern exposure with no real, with no shading,” said Grant Gotlinger, a subcontrator working on the project.

This solar panel project has been underway for the past five months.
It’s part of Washington and Lee University’s green initiative.

“This runs in parallel with our electric system. So we are constantly using electricity and it flows one way or the other. If the building is using, it is taking from the panels. If the panels aren’t producing, it’s taking from the system,” explained Scott Beebe, Director of Facilities Management.

These solar panels are expected to produce about one percent of the school’s electricity.
Another two percent is coming from a similar project on the roof of the Law School.
Both are models for the university.

“We want to see how the system works. We want to see how the payback works for us and just see where it takes us,” said Beebe.

This project is expected to be finished by Decemeber 15th.

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-solar-panels-20111130,0,4634386.story

http://datareadings.com/client/moduleSystem/Kiosk/site/bin/kiosk.cfm?k=uA2UjcGw

Secure Futures designs, develops and co-finances distributed solar solutions with and for tax-exempt entities to reduce their electricity costs and to protect against future grid price increases through 15 to 25 year solar power purchase agreements (SPPAs).
We help customers to execute inter-connect agreements with their local utility companies and local/state governments as needed and required.
EMU is a leader among faith-based universities offering undergraduate, graduate and seminary programs that emphasize peacebuilding, cross-cultural understanding, sustainability and service to others. EMU offers a Christian education like no other.