Harnessing the Sun

When thinking about green technology and sustainable design one often envisions rows of solar panels collecting the sun’s energy and generating electricity for use in a home or business. As solar panel efficiency increases and costs come down we’re even increasingly hearing about individuals completely disconnecting from the electrical grid and producing all the power they need from sun and wind. While we’re not making that big of a jump at Chippewa Nature Center, we’re very excited that we will be installing a 10 kilowatt solar panel array on the south roof of the recently completed Nature Preschool thanks, in part, to a grant from the Michigan Energy Office! [photo: solar panels on the uppermost roof provide energy for heating hot water in the building.] How much power will a 10 kilowatt system produce? When operating at full efficiency on a sunny summer day our system will produce more than enough electricity to operate an average size home. In the winter, as the sun’s angle drops, efficiency will decrease, but we will still be producing power from the sun that’s available. Unlike some solar panel systems, we are not installing a battery bank to store excess energy; instead, we’ll use a net-metering system that puts the renewable energy we’re producing back into the grid. The science of solar panels and photovoltaic arrays is fascinating. Solar panels are made up of individual solar cells, manufactured from semiconductors like silicon. The panels work by absorbing photons present in sunlight and in the process generating electricity. Electricity from solar panels is in the form of DC current so it must be converted to AC current through an inverter, allowing it to be used to run standard appliances. The Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan is on the cutting edge of solar technology through the amazing work of companies like Dow Corning Corporation, The Dow Chemical Company and Hemlock Semiconductor Group. You can learn more about solar panels and other solar technology by visiting the websites of the companies mentioned above and through the U.S. Department of Energy here. We expect to have the solar panel array installed on the Nature Preschool by the end of September so be sure and hike the Arbury Trail and check out our progress. by Dennis Pilaske, Director of Interpretation Chippewa Nature Center