Biodiversity

2024-12-10 22:10:35

Medicine turns to solar energy

logo

Tired Earth

By The Editorial Board

 


The corporate parent of Springfield Hospital and the Springfield Health Center has completed its first solar project, with the installation of four solar panels in front of the entrance of the health center at One Hundred River Street.

Larry Kraft, a hospital spokesman, said the hospital will build a full solar array on land adjacent to the hospital later this year.

Kraft said Friday the two solar systems were different: One would produce hot water for use for the doctors and patients at the health center, and the larger system at the hospital would produce electricity to offset the hospital’s usage.

He said the original intent of the project was to install a system on the rooftop, but the center’s engineers determined the roof was not suitable.

But he said a portion of the building near the river is sheltered and receives what he called “excellent sunlight,” and the panels were installed there.

The four panels were installed before the onset of winter and have already started decreasing the center’s use of fossil fuels, he said.

During the next 10 years, the hot water system will offset the use of 2,500 gallons of propane, which would ordinarily heat the 600,000 gallons of water used annually by staff members, patients and visitors to the health center. He said the total cost of the system was $30,000, and panels were installed by Springfield Heating and Ventilating Co. The system was paid for by donors, including a grant from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation. Kraft said that while a rooftop installation was originally considered, it was determined that the system would produce more electricity from the ground. He said the solar installation would be built on “unbuildable ground” farther up Ridgewood Road and across the road from the hospital. He said the site is currently wooded.

“We will produce electricity,” he said, with a netmetering project, rather than hot water at the health center system.

Under a net-metering project, the hospital will receive credits for the electricity it generates, and those credits will be used to offset its electric bill.

 

Source:rutlandherald.com

Source :


cover cover cover cover cover

  • Make Me Move (feat. KARRA)

    Why we need a UN Treaty on plastic pollution The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a UK charity working on business, learning, insights & analysis, and communications to accelerate the transition towards the circular economy.

  • Make Me Move (feat. KARRA)

    Air Pollution for Kids Air is all around us and we need it to survive.

  • Make Me Move (feat. KARRA)

    Why We Need to Stop Plastic Pollution? Our oceans are being filled and killed by throwaway plastics.

  • Make Me Move (feat. KARRA)

    Climate Change, Ecological Crisis and Sustainability We are all agents for change in climate action.

  • Make Me Move (feat. KARRA)

    Climate Racism Climate Racism: Social Inequalities in the Age of Climate Change

newsletter

The best of Tired Earth delivered to your inbox

Sign up for more inspiring photos, stories, and special offers from Tired Earth

By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Tired Earth. Click here to visit our Privacy Policy..