By Dave Windsheimer<\/p>\n
Skidmore College’s newest power source
\nderives from one of the planet’s oldest resources,
\nsunlight.<\/p>\n
The Saratoga Springs-based institution
\nwill soon begin tapping into a solar farm that
\ncollege officials expect will provide some
\n12 percent of the school’s annual electric
\npower needs. The project is just one of several
\ninstances where Skidmore has turned to
\nsustainable sources of energy.<\/p>\n
Michael Hall, Skidmore special assistant
\nto the vice president for finance and administration,
\nhas led the solar effort. He said
\nthe college is able to utilize green sources
\nof power because clean alternatives are now
\nproving to be economically competitive with
\ntraditional sources of energy.
\n“This is good for the environment and isn’t
\ntough on the pocketbook,” he said.<\/p>\n
Hall said college officials began looking toward
\nsolar as a possible power source several
\nyears ago, a time when New York state was not
\nproviding incentives for businesses to utilize
\nthe sun’s warmth and light. That changed in
\n2012 when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into
\nlaw the NY-Sun Initiative, a program to help
\nencourage the use of solar power.<\/p>\n
In 2013, the state approved a $2.35 million
\ngrant to fund construction of the Skidmore
\nsolar array, which is located on an eight-acre
\nsection of a 120-acre parcel of property the
\ncollege owns on Denton Road in the Town of
\nGreenfield.<\/p>\n
Once the grant was awarded it took some
\neight months, Hall said, to secure all necessary
\napproval from Greenfield town officials to
\nallow construction to begin. Some neighboring property owners expressed concern over
\nthe possible negative impact of the project.<\/p>\n
Hall said Skidmore officials worked “very
\nhard” to convince opponents that the solar
\narray would not be a detriment to the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
The facility is bordered by a six-foot
\ncedar fence. The college has spent several
\nhundred-thousand dollars to plant trees and
\nother greenery to minimize the visual impact.<\/p>\n
The Greenfield Town Board approved the
\nproject in December. Construction on the
\ntwo-megawatt farm, made up of 6,950 solar
\npanels, began in March.<\/p>\n
Hall said the construction was done by Dynamic
\nEnergy Solutions of Wayne, Pa. While
\nthe college owns the property, the solar array
\nsite is leased to the builder, which will sell
\nthe power to Skidmore.<\/p>\n
The final step before the “on” button is
\npushed is approval by National Grid.<\/p>\n
The solar farm will soon join other sustainable
\nenergy sources that Skidmore is now using.
\nAccording to Hall, the college is obtaining
\nsome 4.8 million in kilowatt hours per year
\n(about 18 percent of the college’s electrical
\nneeds) in hydroelectric power from a dam
\nlocated south of Albany.<\/p>\n
The college has also been able to partially
\nmove away from the use of natural gas for
\nheating and cooling purposes through the
\nuse of geothermal energy, said Hall. About
\n40 percent of the campus (about 750,000
\nsquare feet) is now being heated and cooled
\nby geothermal means.<\/p>\n
Hall hopes Skidmore’s efforts to diversify
\nits power sources sends a message to the
\nstudent body that “sustainable energy is
\nwhere it’s at.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Dave Windsheimer Skidmore College’s newest power source derives from one of the planet’s oldest resources, sunlight. The Saratoga Springs-based institution will soon begin tapping into a solar farm that college officials expect will provide some 12 percent of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[57,78,115],"class_list":["post-15488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment-development","tag-business-news","tag-greenfield","tag-saratoga-springs"],"yoast_head":"\r\n