A new electric vehicle charging station and solar array at Georgian College's Owen Sound campus will not only benefit the environment but the college's students as well.
"This system is certainly going to offset our carbon footprint and lower the energy use at the college, but we're all about education and we're educating students about the technology that's current and the technology that's coming," Ron Sky, a professor in the engineering and environmental technologies department, said in an interview Monday during an event at Georgian to officially unveil the two systems.
Sky said the 20-panel, five-kilowatt solar tracking array, which is installed in front of the school on 8th Street East, has been set up so that data from each cell and panel can be monitored by students and faculty at any given time.
Students, including those in the power engineering technology program in Owen Sound, can collect and analyze that real-time information to better understand the benefits of solar power, the advantages and disadvantages of systems that follow the sun and to troubleshoot any issues that may arise with the technology, he said.
"And, of course, we talk about our carbon footprint and the other things that the college is doing to try to reduce our impact on the environment and to be sustainable as we move forward," he said.
Georgian College teamed up with Direct Energy to install the two green-energy systems.
Direct Energy covered the cost, which was just under $100,000, according to Tom Marshall, the energy retailer's manager for Eastern Canadian sales.
Anyone can use the vehicle-charging station for free, Sky said. The college only asks that drivers register their vehicle so that that information can also be used by students to track how well the station is being utilized and to calculate its environmental benefits.
The solar array will power the charging station. When it's not needed for that purpose, the array will provide power to the college or, in some cases, will feed energy into the local grid, Sky said.
Since going online in March, the array has produced about 4.31 megawatt hours of electricity, which is enough to power about 142 homes for a day. The system has offset the college's carbon footprint, he said, by about three tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to about 72 trees.
Owen Sound is the second Georgian College campus, after Barrie, to install a solar power-assisted electric vehicle charging station.
Marion Lougas, the Owen Sound campus's principal and associate dean of the college's marine studies and power engineering departments, said the two systems will prepare Georgian College students to work with and understand emerging technologies.
"The electric vehicle charging bay will also be available to staff, students and members of our community who want to charge up their electric vehicles while on campus," she said.
"We've already had several phone calls now; people are interested from the community about the charging bay. The word is getting out so it will be a great opportunity for community connections as well."
Seth Ronald, a second-year nursing student at Georgian in Owen Sound and head of the campus's environmental club, commended the college and Direct Energy for working together to install the systems, which he said will promote a "culture of conservation" at the school.
"Here in North America, we often live blissfully unaware of our planet's limited resources and the consequences of our excessive use of energy," he said.
"Every small change, whether it be biking, walking, for our environment club we're working on carpooling boards, or in this case zero-emission vehicles, brings us one step closer to sustainability thereby securing the health and safety of our planet's beauty, wildlife and our future generations."
Source: www.bing.com
