Solar panels going up at New England Tech - turbine is next
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Providence Journal photo / Kathy Borchers Tim Cureton, a photovoltaic installer for Alteris Renewables Inc., works on the rails of one of the rows of solar panels on the roof being placed on the roof of a building at the New England Institute of Technology. WARWICK, R.I. - This time of year most of us crave a little sun. But soon, folks at the New England Institute of Technology will have another reason to appreciate sunny days. The school is installing seven rows of solar panels on the roof of the Access Road building that houses its Electrical Technology program. The 135 panels - each 32 inches wide, 64 inches tall and tilted at 45 degrees to help snow slide off - will collectively generate nearly 30,000 kilowatts of electricity a year. To put that in perspective, a typical home uses 8,000 to 10,000 kilowatts a year, according to the school. The cost: about a quarter of a million dollars, financed in part by a $70,875 grant from the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources. But there's more renewable energy to come at this New England Tech campus, which runs next to Route 95. (The school's other campus is on Post Road.) A few buildings away, construction is set to begin on a 156-foot-high wind turbine that will generate 164,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. It will be built next to the Automotive Technology Center, where the average wind speed is 11.9 miles per hour. The $445,000 turbine is a little more than half the height of the huge turbine at Portsmouth Abbey, but it's still destined to become a local landmark. "It certainly will be visible," said Philip G. Parsons, New England Tech's vice president and general counsel. The school is paying the full price for the wind unit, and it will be "a long time" before the school breaks even in energy savings, Parsons said. "If we were doing this just for energy, it would be very costly. We're doing it for educational purposes," for the 187 students in its Electrical Technology program. When the school is in session, New England Tech will save some money because it will not have to purchase as much power from National Grid. Overnight and on Sundays, when there are no classes, any energy generated will be sold to the utility, although at a wholesale price. "New England Tech uses an enormous amount of energy in their portfolio, and we're helping to offset some of that," said Colin Roberts of Alteris Renewables in Bristol, which is building both projects. The solar project "is one of the larger ones we've installed." The solar panels could be up and operating as early as next week. Work on the foundation for the wind turbine was supposed to begin this week, but the school is still trying to get the final permits, said Parsons. It will take about a month for the foundation to cure. Then the turbine itself can be erected. "The tower," he said, "goes up in two or three days." gemery@projo.com / (401)277-7442 
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"We're doing it for educational purposes."
Maybe somebody ought to educate these folks on the finer points of math, like why it is not a smart investment to spend a quarter of a million dollars to power the equivalent of four, count 'em, houses.
The emperor has no clothes.
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