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SOLAR PANEL ARRAY — Rend Lake College announced Thursday that its installation of an additional solar panel array on the Ina campus has been completed.
INA — Rend Lake College announced Thursday that its installation of an additional solar panel array on the Ina campus has been completed.
According to an RLC news release, Rend Lake College partnered with SunVolt Solar Inc. for the $130,000 purchase and installation of the 26-panel solar array. This is the second such array that has been installed on RLC’s main Ina campus. RLC officials estimate that the energy cost savings to the college for the first year will be $4,300, and over 25 years the savings is estimated at $138,000.
The new panels are located adjacent to the existing solar panel system that is in an area near the Agronomy Innovation Center and the Applied Science Center. The new solar array will not only reduce the college’s energy consumption, but will also serve as a positive example to surrounding communities to work toward energy sustainability and environmental consciousness, Sentinel archives state.
The purchase of this solar array was funded through an Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) grant. Formed in 2008, IGEN is a consortium of all 39 Illinois community college districts with the mission of providing a platform for collaboration among all these colleges and their partners to drive growth of the green economy, the news release states.
Also on Thursday, RLC announced that the college has replaced 1,887 light fixtures to upgraded, energy-efficient LED lights across campus. The replacements feature high-efficiency drivers and will use about 161,900 kWh per year, states an RLC news release.
The replacements, which cost $129,071, were also funded through a grant from IGEN. Buildings on campus that received the LEDs include include the Learning Resource Center, Science Building, Applied Science & Technology Center, Academic Building, Administration Building, Vocational Building, Agronomy Innovation Center and Student Center, the release states.
This project is a big step in RLC’s goal of changing out all light fixtures across campus. Previous estimates indicated that the college will have an estimated energy savings from the replacement fixtures of 153,750 kWh per year and a cost savings of more than $9,500 per year, Sentinel archives state.
Kim Wilkerson, RLC’s Vice President of CTE & Student Support, remarked Thursday on the solar array and the LED lighting upgrades.
“The funds provided allow us to lighten our carbon footprint, be more environmentally minded and be better stewards of our tax dollars with these supplemental energy sources and savings,” Wilkerson said.
For more information on these projects, contact Rend Lake College.
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