The historic Crawford House at Maryville College is unveiling a pinnacle of commitment to environmental stewardship with its new solar + storage project at the ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, September 27, 3 p.m. See details here. Speakers will include Mountain Challenge co-owner and donor Emily Guillaume, Maryville College President Dr. Bryan F. Coker and Jon Hamilton, general manager U.S. for Solar Alliance.
Now this headquarters for Mountain Challenge and Fit.Green.Happy has the capacity to meet all its energy needs with renewable energy from the sun.
Program founder Bruce Guillaume explained, “energy efficiency and regenerative environmental work are good business and good education – especially in the long run.” The center provides outdoor programs for Maryville College students as well as for groups from the surrounding community.
A new 4.8 kilowatt (kW) solar array is paired with an 18-killowatt-hour (kWh) battery for energy storage. When solar production exceeds consumption, excess energy can be stored for use at night or in overcast weather conditions. This adds to an existing array installed previously around the time that Crawford house earned its LEED Gold status for earlier sustainability efforts like energy efficiency and ventilation improvements.
“We’re stepping up our game related to our commitment to renewable energy with this (solar plus storage technology project),” said Mountain Challenge Director Tyson Murphy.
The new system can offset an estimated 2.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This equates to curbing emissions from burning more than 3,000 pounds of coal or from a gas-powered car driving more than 7,000 miles annually.
“This small-scale project our Solar Alliance team designed shows how others could use solar plus storage technology to harness renewable energy on an even larger scale,” said Tom Talmage III, Solar Alliance sales director.
Anne Brock is marketing coordinator for Solar Alliance, which designs and manages commercial solar projects. She can be reached at abrock@solaralliance.com or 865-221-8349.
