When we went by 10-month-old High Point Neighborhood Center this afternoon for a look at the work A&R Solar has done to expand the solar array atop the building, we should have realized it couldn’t be seen without going up on the roof. We’re not much for climbing, but luckily Dave Kozin from A&R agreed to take our camera up and get a few photos. He says they just finished installing the expansion – 128 more solar panels, added to the original 256 panels – and will be working on wiring tomorrow; then it should be turned on by the weekend. The solar array atop High Point Neighborhood Center already was one of the largest in the region; they are new to the project – a different company installed phase 1.
A&R Solar is based in Seattle and notes in the announcement of the project:
This system is currently one of the state’s largest solar projects with 48.6 kilowatts (kW) of capacity. The additional 128-panel installation from A&R Solar will increase the community center’s solar energy output to 73.6 kW. … With help from Sally Knodell at Environmental Works, as well as engineering support from Glumac (electrical) and Swenson Say Faget (structural), A&R Solar began installation of the additional 128 solar panels on Monday, August 23, 2010, and is scheduled complete the project by Friday, September 10. Many thanks are in order for the City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development, who helped streamline the permitting process, and to the City of Seattle for providing most of the funding for the project.
A&R Solar says it’s also working on a system at Walla Walla Community College with almost as much capacity as High Point – 72 kilowatts. HP Neighborhood Center, meantime, has other energy-saving features beyond the social array – we detailed some of them during a hard-hat tour last year.
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