Duke Energy, providers of renewable energy solutions, has awarded a grant of $50,000 to University of South Florida, St. Petersburg (USFSP) for production and research on solar power.
Sophia Wisniewska, regional chancellor, South Florida University, said,” This grant will be used to install solar panels on the parking garage roof enabling net-zero energy facility.”
A 100 KW array, installed atop the garage will be a sufficient solution for cost –efficient power management.
A similar solar array of 100 KW installed at college will cut down electric bills considerably by $20,000 per year.
In 2012, Duke Energy acquired St. Petersburg-based Progress Energy, and USFSP is the fourth school to receive the SunSense grant from Duke.
USFSP, after losing opportunity to win this grant for many years aimed at fulfilling certain conditions specified by Duke including installation of energy dashboard, online energy monitoring, indications of student engagement and a full-time sustainability coordinator.
The university initiated a three- month drive under the guidance of Daniel MacGarigal who served as chairman of student government’s clean energy resource conservation commission. Adequate formalities were done to ensure grant from Duke this year.
A project on solar power storage is affiliated with Duke grant as part of the research program.
Sterling Ivey, spokesman of the utility, said, “Storing the solar energy and exporting it to the electric grid to convert it into power whenever needed is a big challenge in industry. USFSP will be the largest solar array in the city sponsored by Duke.”
“The university authority and students are keen to work on projects that will offer long-term benefit to all. The whole team want to prove that environmental action such as solar power is financially smart,” said McGarigal.
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