Solar panels for Kaiser Permanente Hospital delivered by bike

Posted on: Monday, November 14, 2011
by: Micha Ramsey, SolarWorld Americas, Crystal Growing Process Technology Manager

All in all, it was a lovely morning for a bike ride. As I met my fellow SolarWorld employees, including President Gordon Brinser and VP of Operations Mukesh Dulani, at the front entrance, it wasn’t yet raining and was a balmy 48-degrees out -- much better than the forecast predicted the night before.

Also geared up for the ride were a handful of Kaiser Permanente employees, including their President, Andrew McCulloch, and Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey. We were delivering the first few solar panels (ours, of course) to the new Kaiser Westside Medical Care center by bike! Literally ... a couple of bikes had trailers pulling the actual panels. Awesome!

I signed up as soon as I heard about the ride. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Monday morning. I ride my bike to work quite a bit, but riding my bike for work was even better. We proceeded to ride down Evergreen Road with a police escort, and our electric truck, that was sporting some additional solar panels, bringing up the rear. No one seemed to mind the light rain that started as we took off for the 3.5 mile ride.

The rain did have the unfortunate side effect of causing one of our big ‘Sun at Work’ signs to fall off the trailer carrying the solar panel. I looped back to retrieve it – knowingly leaving it as litter was just unacceptable to me. I was happy to now have a big sign that I could wave to the cars as we rode by them.

Mischa Ramsey of SolarWorld holding the rescued Sun at Work sign
Micha Ramsey: Slight mishap with the Sun At Work sign during delivery, but the solar panels arrived in perfect condition

We arrived at the medical center as it began seriously raining, but it did not affect our spirits; it appeared that everyone had enjoyed the ride. We were all grateful for the refreshments that Kaiser brought out for us - especially the hot coffee and cider. After a few words by Andrew, Gordon, and Jerry we had the chance to mingle for a few more minutes and I had the pleasure of chatting with Jerry about bike rides in the Hillsboro community.

SolarWorld and Kaiser Permanente cyclists deliver panels to project site
Left to right: Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey, Kaiser Permanente President Andrew McCulloch, and SolarWorld President Gordon Brinser addressing the crowd

Before long, the wet and cold convinced us that we should probably head back and get to work. It was a fabulous way to start the week, and I enjoyed the opportunity to highlight that buying local is not only good for the community but also good for the environment.

Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey, Kaiser Permanente President Andrew McCulloch, and SolarWorld President Gordon Brinser addressing the crowd
SolarWorld and Kaiser Permanente cyclists deliver panels to project site

It once again made me proud to be part of a company that shows its commitment to sustainable living through actions and not just words.

More information on this project >>

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Comments

  • Mattress Lot
    11/14/2011 10:40 PM

    Thank you Solar World and Kaiser for a fun morning. Proud to have taken part in this amazing bike delivery.

  • Odon
    11/15/2011 1:53 AM

    That´s very nice to read, it´s good to know that there´s people like you guys in the US doing something to improve the environment. We need to reduce all of our CO2 emissions and quickly! I´ve been teaching this over and over to my students in China, the Maldives and South Africa with some great results. Many of them are now deeply committed with doing something to stop global warming.

  • YDG
    12/28/2011 11:49 AM

    I will assume the panels at Kaiser Hillsboro are either a local (therefore 'green') product or an import for which the tariffs have been paid. As Gordon Brinser points out in the latest Renewable Energy Focus 12-21-'11, there is a glut of Chinese-made solar products (as he asserts, of sub-standard quality) and in violation of trade laws, available recently. I have run across blogs defending the Chinese-made products in the name of consumer demand, but in fact the potential defects will likely not be evident to the consumer for a year or two. The Kaiser installation seeks a LEED Gold certification at the Hillsboro site which Gordon and Micha participate in here, but less publicized is the KP San Diego retrofit photovoltaic array atop their parking garage at Zion Road (July 2011), which is entirely a Chinese product, and not constrained by a desire to achieve LEED certification. The panels took a few months to install, and are probably only recently producing power, so there could not have been an overarching motive besides the low cost that allowed this product to be used. Given that an unsustainable investment like the recent Solyndra fiasco shows what the market will bear, I believe it behooves Mr. Brinser to enlighten us regarding the difference between what we should be avoiding (poor quality) and what we should be paying for instead, especially in this economy.

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