On the outskirts of Elizabethtown College’s campus sits a silicon giant. The beast is no foe though—it foots more than 20% of the College’s energy bill. However, while many students are aware of the giant solar fields by the Schreiber Quadrangle, most don’t know the real purpose of the array.
In 2016, the College completed the construction of the largest solar project at a higher learning institution after receiving a $500,000 state grant. The solar field was not only intended to help cover the College’s energy bill but to provide a site for student research. It’s reached its energy goal many times over, but has the student research component been fully fulfilled?
“The College owns the land but not the solar panels or the array,” professor of engineering and physics Dr. Kurt DeGoede said. “We are not allowed to tinker with it, which is fine, but it’s connected to a grid generating power. We have no permission to modify or make changes.”
Community Energy is the developer, owner and operator of Elizabethtown Solar, and they provide power to both corporate and institutional customers. The construction team behind the solar panels included national solar installer Namasté Solar and Advanced Solar Industries, which is based in New Holland, Pa.
This spring, DeGoede will teach Sustainable Design Engineering, the only class which currently utilizes any aspect of the solar fields. Each year, they take a field trip out to the panels, which has proven useful in the class and engineering program overall.
“On our field trip, we looked at the panels and how they’re spaced, you don’t want to have a shadow on the panel,” associate professor of engineering and physics Dr. Brenda Read-Daily said. “The information on the back gives details about the power they can produce. It’s great for the students to go over and see it and get a hands-on approach to what they’re actually learning.”
Read-Daily taught Sustainable Design Engineering last spring, and appreciates the solar panels from both an academic standpoint and a sustainability standpoint, as does DeGoede.
“I think it shows a visible dedication to sustainability with those acres of land,” DeGoede said. “I value that the College made that stand, and it was a good economic move because they are reserving electric costs at a fixed rate in an inflationary economy.”
The energy produced by the solar field goes into the national electric grid, which powers nearly everything in the United States. The amount of energy that the Etown solar panel field produces is then subtracted from the College’s energy bill. It’s enough power to provide energy to 330 residential houses per year.
The exact amount of power the solar array produced in the last month (258.76 MWh), this year (2.44 GWh) and over its lifetime (19.82 GWh) are all public information linked on DeGoede’s faculty website. Every 15 minutes, the information is updated in real time.
“We use it in the class to see the history of the array,” DeGoede said. “That’s where you could use it for research and data analysis, but it hasn’t to a large extent.”
“The working side and tour of the facility is definitely worthwhile for those students,” he continued.
There’s another use for the solar fields—the cross country course. The course loops around the entire field and was used to host this year’s alumni meet.
The solar panels prove that sustainable energy is possible and can have multiple uses. In the future, the field will continue to output energy while serving as an instructional trip for engineering majors and an athletic course.
