By Carolina Lopez and Annika Cline
Solar panels have been installed on the roof of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism building to help achieve ASU’s sustainability goal of producing 20 megawatts of solar energy.
A small ribbon-cutting ceremony held Monday morning celebrated the Cronkite Solar Power Plant and was attended by Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan, Arizona Public Service officials, City Councilman Bill Gates and other ASU and City of Phoenix officials.
These new solar panels are the first of their kind at the Downtown campus.
The panels are owned by Solar Power Partners, an independent solar power producer, said David Brixen, ASU’s associate vice president of facilities development and management.
SPP “develops, owns, and operates distributed solar energy facilities” and also sells solar-generated electricity through solar power purchase agreements, according to its website.
The project cost approximately $815,000 and includes 322 panels, according to a press release.
“I’m a big proponent of solar energy in Arizona,” said Gates.
Brixen said this project would help ASU reach its sustainability goals, which includes producing 20 megawatts of solar energy from all four campuses by 2014. Twenty megawatts is the equivalent of 20 percent of the overall energy ASU uses, he said.
“We want to walk the talk,” he said. Setting an example, having a sustainable school, and promoting sustainability are important, Brixen said.
There are currently no plans to add more solar panels to the Downtown campus, Brixen said. Location is important to the placement of these panels; buildings need to be in direct sunlight during the day or only a small amount of energy can be generated. The University Center building does not get as much sun as the Cronkite Building because it is blocked by the Freeport-McMoRan building for a portion of the day, he said.
This September, the university celebrated its 10 megawatt milestone on West campus, Brixen said, adding that APS’s Renewable Energy Incentive Program partly facilitates ASU’s solar installations.
The Downtown plant is one of more than 50 solar installations on three of ASU’s campuses, according to an email from Marshall Terill, spokesman for the Downtown campus. ASU will buy back the energy from local utility companies and solar developers at a fixed cost that also includes federal and state tax credits and renewable-energy incentives from APS and Salt River Project, he said.
There are 12.4 megawatts of solar energy produced across all of ASU and the specific plant on the Cronkite building is a 77 kilowatt project, said Daniel Daley, technical account representative for APS.
The electricity generated from the system is to help supply the electrical power used in the Cronkite Building during daylight hours, Brixen said.
Joseph Amonett, a junior majoring in criminal justice and criminology and a senator for the College of Public Programs, said the Cronkite Solar Power Plant is “an excellent next step for ASU’s sustainability program. Installing solar energy systems allows the university to conserve more energy.”
Contact the reporters at carolina.m.lopez@asu.edu and annika.cline@asu.edu
