Valley Star

Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Valerie Podoynitsyna STORING UP- A photovoltaic farm atop the Maintenance & Operations building is part of Valley College's plans for a one-megawatt farm, which would make the school energy-independent.

Already a front runner in the Los Angeles Community College District's plan to make its campuses more environmentally friendly, Valley College continues to develop ways to make itself a leader in energy-efficiency.

Following its certification as the district's first college with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-accredited building, Valley has a plan in the works to have a one-megawatt photovoltaic farm, which uses an array of solar cells, known as photovoltaic cells, to convert sunlight into energy.

A small photovoltaic farm currently sits on top of the Maintenance and Operations building, contributing 10 percent of the facility's energy. New campus constructions will also have small photovoltaic farms, but the one-megawatt farm, which has yet to find a location, would supply 100 percent energy for the entire campus.

"What the district is trying to do is also at some point have no electrical bill," said Mitchell Vaccari, senior project director for URS (United Research Services). "[With the hopes] that all the electrical bills disappear and we use all renewable energy."

Even though the district-wide LEED project's sustainability requirements are being met, Valley is actively looking to schedule construction to move forward with the one-megawatt farm, which is not mandatory.

"We become a part of the solution to the energy crisis because we would be producing our own energy and not being dependent on fossil fuels," said Valley President Tyree Wieder. "We are an educational institution and I think it's important that we take a leadership role in having an institution that is self-supporting, as far as energy use is concerned."

At the moment the ambitious project is in its early stages.

"It's not for sure that were going do it," said Wieder. "[But] that's the plan. We're trying to find a company that will be willing to work with us to build it."

The one-megawatt farm model is set up in a way that it is similar to a parking or shade structure, allowing for parking underneath while the photovoltaic cells absorb the sunlight and convert it into electrical energy.

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