Sitting in the middle of the San Francisco Bay is one of the most iconic US prisons, Alcatraz, and while it hasn’t served as an operating prison for several decades, it does now serve as host to a 307kW PV system. Developed by the National Park Service (NPS) and the U. S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) the solar project brings clean energy to another national landmark.
The solar produced on site helps powers lights and appliances that for nearly 100 years were powered by diesel fuel that was ferried across the bay. Now the solar panels, which sit atop the Cellhouse building, are attached to two 2,000-amp-hour battery strings and an inverter plant, which is expected to help produce around 400,000kWh of electricity per year.
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The US$3.6 million project was funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. This is one of several projects that the NREL and NPS are partnering on. “Right now, we're helping to commission PV, solar hot water, and hydro-turbines at Mesa Verde National Park's museum,” stated Andy Walker, a senior engineer and task leader for design assistance in the DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) at NREL. Other projects include PV and ground-source heat pumps at the new Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennyslvania, and a study of the PV systems at Buckler Meadows in Yellowstone National Park.
