Hartwick College Pine Lake Environmental Center solar

Overview

Hartwick College (www.hartwick.edu), a small private liberal-arts college in Oneonta, NY, uses its Pine Lake Environmental Campus to provide students, faculty, staff, alumni and the broader community a hands-on opportunity to learn about environmental issues, including sustainability. The signature building at the expansive natural campus is Robertson Lodge. The Lodge houses Pine Lake’s offices, a gallery, and ten Hartwick College students during the academic year. It also serves as a base for numerous community and educational events, all of which now benefit from a 10 kilowatt (kW) PV system.

THE TEAM
• NYSERDA: funding and coordination of the PV incentive program through the New York Energy Smart program (www.powernaturally.org).
• ETM Solar Works: The NYSERDA “eligible installer” responsible for the design and installation of the Hartwick College PV system (www.etmsolar.com).

THE SYSTEM
Hartwick College’s PV system covers approximately 840 square feet of a south facing roof on Robertson Lodge, located at the College’s Pine Lake Environmental Campus. The roughly 10kW DC system is comprised of 48 photovoltaic panels, rated at 208 watts each. The DC (direct current) power produced by the solar panels is converted into AC (alternating current) for use by Hartwick. The total AC power is estimated at 7.5kW. The total installed system costs are approximately $93,300 and the NYSERDA incentive is $39,936.

THE SAVINGS
The estimated annual output of the Hartwick College system is 10,400 kWh. This system should reduce the amount of energy purchased by about 45 percent. Emissions of CO2 will be reduced by 10,452 pounds annually.

Hudson Valley Homegrown Energy and Resource Map
updated 03/2012 by Hudson Valley Noteworthy Sites