Plans for adding more solar panels on top of all of the buildings on campus have been halted because more funding is needed.  According to Jim Dishaw, Senior Director of Physical Plant, Le Moyne plans on going forward with the project when they receive additional funding.  

Le Moyne College has had solar panels since 2010 and they are currently located on the roof of Foery Hall.

“The panels produce 20,000 volts of electricity when it’s a bright sunny day and the panels are facing in the right direction,” says Dishaw.  “The panels save eight dollars a day.”

Solar panels have many advantages to them besides saving money and being eco-friendly. Solar power produces no polluting emissions, including those that cause global warming, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Also, with no moving parts, solar panels are silent, easy to operate, and can help utilities avoid blackouts.”  

The college is also looking to add wind turbines on the roofs of campus when they get enough funding as well.

“Wind turbines are small horizontal axes,” said Dishaw. “Currently, there is one down near the steam plant that is used for testing.”

According to the Global Wind Energy Council, wind turbines that are made today can have an output of 250 watts to 7 megawatts, depending on the size of the turbine and the speed of the wind through the rotor. Small turbines can be set on buildings, but their output is lower than wind mills due to their size.

On average, these turbines can produce more than 6 million kilowatts per hour in a year.

The college plans on going forward with wind turbines if the experimental stage goes well, and when they get more fundings.

“So far we have had no problems with them and they require little maintenance,” said Dishaw.

Larger colleges and universities have more than one building with solar panels and wind turbines installed. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s statistics states that University at Buffalo is ranked 11th and Syracuse University is ranked 17th in the nation with the largest Green Power Resources. Syracuse University mainly uses wind energy while University at Buffalo uses a combination of “Biomass, small-hydro, solar, and wind.”

Many students are not aware of the investment that college has made and hopes to make in solar panels and other energy saving devices, or the plans they have to add more. However, the students that do know find the technology to be an important way to stay environmentally conscious.