Cornell University Cornell Sustainable Campus

Hoffman Challenge Course Goes Solar

Through a cooperative effort between students, alumni, community, and administration, Cornell Outdoor Education has been able to provide power to the Hoffman Challenge Course (HCC). The solar system is designed to provide enough power for lighting, computer and audio-visual technology use, a medium refrigerator, and a future water pump. This power enables the HCC's facilities to be used at night, into the shoulder seasons, and much more as a classroom and meeting space. The off-grid system is designed to provide up to 2000 Watt Hours per day, 3 days per week year round, with the potential to expand if needed.

The new system will help COE's teambuilding trainings to better serve Cornell students and staff in a way that supports COE "walking its talk" on environmental stewardship, while also providing an opportunity to educate and raise participants' awareness of sustainability and related topics.

For more information please contact Jim Volckhausen at jrv5@cornell.edu or 607-255-9512 or Todd Miner at tm49@cornell.edu or 607-255-8004 from Cornell Outdoor Education.

Day Hall Solar Installation

In 2006 workers completed the installation on the roof of Day Hall of solar panels that will generate slightly more electricity than is used by the clock tower lights, so the tower has been chosen to symbolize the new energy source.

The system was turned on and began feeding power into the university power grid Dec. 20. With 54 26-square-foot solar panels generating a peak 15 kilowatts (kw), it is the third largest solar array in Tompkins County after the Tompkins County Library, whose system is rated at 145 kw, and a recent apartment building installation rated at 16.7 kw. Eight similar panels, rated at 2.2 kw, will be installed over the loading dock of the Cornell Store.

The project began with the donation of 90 solar panels by Cornell trustee emeritus Dick Aubrecht '66, Ph.D. '70, vice chair and vice president for strategy and technology at Moog Inc. The system was designed by Performance Systems Contracting Inc., an Ithaca renewable energy and conservation firm. Installation was supervised by Rob Garrity '06, renewables project manager for Performance Systems. Labor was donated by the Electrician's Union through its current apprentice class.

Although the systems represent only a medium part of the university's usage, they are seen as valuable demonstration projects and will have a teaching function.

Solar-Powered Bus Shelters

The Solar-Powered Lighting System is a program of Transportation and Mail Services in the Facilities and Campus Services Division of Cornell University and Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT). The primary goal of this program is to provide a cost-efficient, environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional passenger shelter lighting options. Costs for installing the lights in both shelters was less than the cost to bring a traditional power supply line to just one of the shelters.

Solar powered lights were installed in March of 1996 in the passenger shelters near Goldwin Smith and Rockefeller Halls. Waiting bus passengers push a button to activate the lights, which stay on for six minutes. The lights take advantage of solar power even on Ithaca's cloudy days by gathering the suns energy using a photovoltaic system and storing it in a battery for use when the sun is not shining. The lights, if running constantly, are capable of providing five to six hours of light in the winter, and up to ten hours of light during the summer months.

While the test shelters are located on Cornell's central campus, this type of lighting is ideal for shelters located in remote areas. Photovoltaic systems are well suited to locations where accessing a power supply is either not feasible or expensive. The average life span of the $400 photovoltaic modules is 20-30 years, the batteries (costing $118 each) need to be replaced annually.

Beneficial Impacts of Program:

• Reduced consumption of electricity along with the associated regional and global environmental impact reductions - it is estimated that each solar powered shelter saves 25-30 kilowatts-hrs per year.
• Reduced installation and maintenance costs.
• Increased safety at bus shelters which cannot be lit with conventional electricity-dependant methods.

For more information, check out the web sites listed in the sidebar above, or contact Nancy Oltz, TCAT Manager of Operations and Maintenance at no16@tcatmail.com.

Related Articles:

Solar panels on Day Hall will make enough electricity to light the clock tower
12/22/06 Source: The Cornell Chronicle