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Rooftop Solar Potential (Completed)

Project History

  • Mailbag solar article: Suggestion for UI solar panels

    6/28/2020

    "Why doesn't the company installing the solar panels at U of I put them over the parking lot? I would provide shade for the cars underneath and would eliminate having to kill whatever would be underneath them in the fields."

  • Net Metering on campus

    4/2/2019

    For all of our buildings with renewable energy systems, we employ a net metering method.  We deduct the energy supplied by the system from the building load on the campus grid.  So, if ECE uses about 250,000 kwh of electricity per month, and the r
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Project Family

Associated Collections

Renewable Energy Projects

Description

One potential method for acheiving the 2015 iCAP goal for on-campus solar is to retrofit existing campus buildings with rooftop solar.  The amount of sun shine on each roof, the viability of the building itself, and the funding mechanisms all need to be reviewed and resolved for this idea to be implemented.  The viability for each building includes approval from the Architectural Review Committee, agreement of the building occupant facility leaders, and structural and electrical viability for the building.  As of 2016, the financial payback for solar photovoltaics is not strong enough to easily justify the up-front costs, so alternative funding solutions are needed.

Background

Student efforts have assisted with the formulation of this project proposal.  The potential for rooftop solar on existing campus buildings was evaluated in a systematic fashion, starting with an aerial review of all existing campus buildings in the University District.

  1. Rooftop Photovoltaic Master List – Brendan McDonnell reviewed all campus facilities for rooftop solar potential in PVWatts.
  2. Architecture Review Committee first cut – yes, no, or maybe for large building roofs
  3. F&S roofing subject matter experts review – Corey Weil facilitated Spring 2016
  4. Project Plan Development – Niharika Kishore coordinated Summer 2016

Website URL(s)

Related Files

Project Team

  • Primary Contact:

    Morgan Johnston

    Team Members:

    • Brendan McDonnell
    • Corey Weil
    • Niharika Kishore

Dates

  • Proposed October 21, 2015
    Proposed by 2015 iCAP
    Investigated July 1, 2015
    Investigated by Brendan McDonnell

Themes

Project Location(s)

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