Howard Greninger
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Good day, sunshine. Good day, power savings.
Amid a sunny afternoon Monday, members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 725 officially dedicated three solar panel arrays to be used not only to save electrical costs, but to provide union members with installation training for future solar markets.
The solar panels have been in operation since May 26, said R. Todd Thacker, business manager for IBEW Local 725.
“On one array we have saved 531 kilowatts, and on the other array we saved 581 kilowatts. The reason there is a difference, one is set at a flatter angle and the other at a steeper angle. We did that for educational purposes to see how much [solar] production we would get out of them,” Thacker said.
“In addition, we had about 430 kilowatts saved by our sign” on the east side of Indiana 46, at the intersection of Hulman Street, Thacker said.
Thacker said the three solar panel arrays have each saved 1,000 pounds of carbon emissions.
“If we were getting the same amount of power from a coal-fired generating station, it would have produced [and released] that much carbon into the atmosphere,” Thacker said.
Thacker estimates the facility has saved about $120 in electricity costs over nearly a month.
One of two solar array panels near the union’s main building at 5675 E. Hulman Drive was tilted at 25 degrees, optimum for solar absorption during the summer. That produced 4,760 watts during the day.
“That is close to a 5,000-watt generator, which is a good size that would run everything you run in a house if your power went out during an emergency,” Thacker said.
The second array on Monday was tilted at 37 degrees, used during the winter. However, during the summer, solar rays simply reflect off the panels, instead of being absorbed. Thacker said they wanted to track the difference in absorption and power savings.
With two solar panel arrays producing about 8,000 watts, Thacker said that reduces the facility’s need for power to run air conditioning by 50 percent.
The electrical union early this year was awarded a $42,580 competitive grant administered by the Indiana Office of Energy Development. The 50 percent matching grant, funded through the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Program, has allowed the purchase of 60 solar panels, capable of generating 14,000 watts of electricity.
The facility has an interconnection agreement with Duke Energy, so whenever the panels produce more power than the facility or sign uses, the facility gets a credit on its total electric bill.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@
tribstar.com
