HACC celebrates formal unveiling of solar panels project
Business, industry partners thanked for their support
June 29, 2010
Harrisburg, PA – The ceremonial flipping of a switch June 29 marked the formal unveiling of the completed solar panels project in the Urban Meadow at the Midtown site of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College.
HACC President Edna V. Baehre, Ph.D., and Chris Flynn of the Sustainable Energy Fund, threw the switch connected to the 3kW solar photo voltaic system tied to the PPL grid. The meter runs backward as it collects solar energy, and then expends that energy at night to illuminate pedestrian lighting in the Urban Meadow and adjacent parking lots for HACC students and faculty.
The project, funded by a $15,000 grant from SEF, was a training lab for students in sustainability and further strengthened the partnerships between HACC and Central Pennsylvania business and industry who worked with the students, she said.
Also addressing the group was David Lupold, vice president of Ganflec Architects & Engineers, and Robert Meyers, HACC instructor of industrial technology. Dan Wagner, HACC instructor and chair of the Industrial Technology Department, was emcee.
Among the business and industry partners recognized for their contribution and support of the project were Ganflec Architects & Engineers, GreenWorks Development, Dauphin Enterprises, Glen-Gery Corporation, Pyramid Construction, City of Harrisburg’s Department of Building and Housing Development, INeedSolar, Orbit Technologies, Inc., Stewart-Amos Steel Inc., and the Facilities Management Department at HACC’s Harrisburg Campus.
The solar panels are in the Urban Meadow between HACC’s Midtown II at 1500 N. Third St., and Midtown I at 1523 N. Fourth St., in Harrisburg. To view real time solar output, go to www.hacc.edu, click on the Green Technology icon, then “Solar panels @ Midtown.”