SolarWorld solar panels ready to power center modeling world advance in sustainable building
Solar phase finished at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens expansion in Pittsburgh
HILLSBORO, Ore., October 31, 2011 – High-performance solar panels from SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer for more than 35 years, will provide electricity for the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden’s Center for Sustainable Landscapes. The project, rising in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park, will drive ingenuity in sustainable architecture and engineering to new heights of achievement.
Download JPEG, 4288x2848, 3.0 MB SolarWorld authorized installer Energy Independent Solutions has completed installation of 125 kilowatts worth of 250-watt Sunmodule™ solar panels – three-quarters on the roof, a quarter on the ground – to power the new, three story educational, research and administrative center (http://www.phippscsl.org/) on the 118-year-old Phipps campus. Combined with energy efficiencies, solar hot water, natural light capture, and geothermal heating and cooling, the solar electric power will help free the center from reliance on off-site energy.
Also independent from off-site water, the 24,350-square-foot Phipps center on a 2.65-acre park site will be the world’s first project built to simultaneously meet or exceed the three most prestigious standards of sustainable construction: the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge; the U.S Green Building Council’s highest level of certification, LEED® Platinum; and four-star certification of the SITES™ landscape rating system, also called the Sustainable Sites Initiative.
“This new feat of green building will stand as a model to prove we possess the know-how to construct buildings that do not drain the planet’s energy resources,” said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld Americas. “Solar power provides a perpetual, clean source of power on the site, exactly where energy demand will rise. Solar technologies, energy efficiencies and engineering innovations work together to show how we can better use the resources already abundantly available at this site and in much of the rest of the world.”
“The time for such a building has finally come, as has the time for solar power,” Kilkelly said.
Furthering the project’s sustainability, the solar installation has relied on domestic technology, equipment and labor. SolarWorld employs more than 1,100 Americans in manufacturing and selling the mono- and polycrystalline silicon solar panels in California and Oregon. Energy Independent Solutions, based in McKees Rocks, Penn., provided installation expertise and labor. Mounting systems came from Solar FlexRack of Youngstown, Ohio. The $24 million Phipps project is expected to be completed next spring.
“As the solar subcontractor, we were determined to use only the most reliable and domestically manufactured equipment – without compromise,” said Joe Morinville, owner of Energy Independent Solutions. “We were determined to do our part the right way, tapping high-standard U.S. manufacturing, skill and labor.”
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About SolarWorld AG
SolarWorld AG manufactures solar power systems and in doing so contributes to a cleaner energy supply worldwide. The company, located in Bonn, employs approximately 3,000 people and carries out production in Freiberg, Germany, and Hillsboro, USA. From raw material silicon to the solar module, SolarWorld manages all stages of production ‒ including its own research and development. Through an international distribution network, SolarWorld supplies customers all over the world with solar modules and complete systems. The company maintains high social standards at all locations across the globe, and has committed itself to resource- and energy-efficient production. SolarWorld has been publically traded on the stock market since 1999 and is quoted in the technology index TecDax. SolarWorld achieved sales of about one billion Euros for the fiscal year 2011. More information at www.solarworld-usa.com.
Media Contact:
Devon Cichoski
Media relations manager
SolarWorld Americas
4650 Adohr Lane
Camarillo, CA 93012
Mobile: 805-377-2905
Office: 805-388-6388
devon.cichoski(at)solarworld-usa.com