Washington's Largest Solar Power System Is Almost Ready

WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- Several rooftops at Catholic University are undergoing a makeover.

"We're going to put about 1,100 solar panels on four buildings that will generate about 1% of our electricity supplies for the university on an annual basis," says Brian Alexander, Catholic University's Director Of Energy Management.

It takes 2 skilled workers about 15 minutes to put together a pair of solar panels.  In this installation the solar panels are installed nearly flat to the roof.

C.J. Colavito of Standard Solar explains why, "The higher the tilt we make, the larger the spacing we have to have between the modules, so if we have a lower tilt, we can have more solar panels on the roof and produce more electricity with the same surface area."

This project is more than just going green according to Alexander, "The Catholic Church and the University is stressing to its students and its followers to be good stewards of the environment....the fact is every year, we're not going to produce 350 tons of carbon dioxide."

One of the beauties of the installation at Catholic University is that they have locked in electrical rates at today's prices. Their contract runs 20 years, and their rates won't change at all.  And the nearly 1,100 solar panels is just a beginning. 

Alexander adds, "We're in the process of looking at other areas, not just on buildings but also on land, so this project is easily expandable."

As for the future of alternative energy at Catholic University. "We're looking at micro-turbines for our steam plant. We're also looking at geothermal."

They are optimistic that they can have 15 to 20 percent of their energy generated by on-site renewables in the next 10 to 15 years.

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