Howard County Library?s East Columbia branch officially turned green Thursday. County Executive Ken Ulman helped unveil the 24 solar photovoltaic panels installed last month as part of the county?s solar electric generation demonstration project.
“We really have a stark choice in the county, state and planet with the energy sources we?re using,” said Richard Deutschmann, chief executive officer of Chesapeake Solar, installers of the panels.
The panels measure 5 feet by 3 feet and cover about 500 square feet on the roof, officials said. The net cost to install them was $45,000, and the power generated from them will feed into the library?s electrical distribution system.
“We?re taking free sunlight falling onto the roof and turning it into free electricity,” said Brian Auger, the library?s deputy executive director.
Summer will be a beneficial time for the library. The system will on average generate about 500 kilowatt hours of electricity a month, with slightly higher outputs in summer than winter.
“When the air conditioning is going full blast, that?s when solar puts out its greatest power,” Deutschmann said.
In just one month of operation, the panels generated 700 kilowatt hours, which is comparable to powering 28 typical Howard County homes for a day, officials said. An average U.S. home uses about 920 kilowatts each month.
Ulman said the library, the first site in the county chosen for this solar demonstration initiative, was ideal because residents go here to assess information.
“An interactive element for this is available for children and families so they can see what?s happening on the roof,” he said.
A computer inside the library allows anybody to assess how much power is being generated.
There are potential plans for installing solar panels on other county facilities, but details are not yet available, Deutschmann said.
Around the county, solar panels are also being exhibited on the roof of the bank barn on the Howard County Conservancy in Woodstock.
