Hartwick College, NY is going solar at Pine Lake
By Mark Boshnack, Staff Writer / Jan 11, 2007
Source: DailyStar of Oneonta, NY
http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2007/01/11/mbhartwick3.html
The future is looking bright at Hartwick College’s Pine Lake Environmental Campus in Davenport. Recently installed solar panels on Robertson Lodge will help the college’s sustainability program take another step forward, officials said Wednesday. The panels were put in place just before Christmas, said Patrick Drohan, director of the Pine Lake Institute for Environmental and Sustainability studies. It is only fitting, he said, because “the campus is the cornerstone of sustainability for the college. It has driven a lot of the movement.”
Since the land was purchased by the college in 1971, it has been a place to teach students and faculty to “be lighter on the land _ to live in a way that places less demands on resources,” Drohan said. The project was financed largely through two state agencies, he said.
Empire State Development provided $50,000 in grants and New York State Energy and Research Development Agency provided incentives of $40,000 to offset the cost of installing the panels. ETM Solar Works of Endicott installed the approximately 70 panels, each 3 feet by 3 feet, which will deliver 10.2 kilowatts, about half the power needed at the lodge. The system will use a net metering system connected to the New York State Electric & Gas Corp. grid, so the campus will receive a credit for unused energy, Drohan said.
Hartwick Executive Vice President and Provost John Anderson said that the project builds awareness of sustainability and related issues at Hartwick College. “It is part of a lifestyle in the community,” he said. “It is incumbent on us to heighten awareness of students that we live in a fragile environment and they will be the caretakers.” In a related issue, the college recently announced that it has purchased renewable-energy certificates to offset the carbon-dioxide emissions from several parts of the campus.
The certificates sold by Sterling Planet cover about 225,869 pounds of emissions, which would be equal to the output from driving a car on 89 trips between Los Angeles and New York City, according to a Hartwick news release. The certificates are an important option for achieving sustainability, Drohan said.