This summer we installed our fifth solar array, adding 4.55 kilowatts of generating capacity with a ground-mounted series of 14 panels (325 watts each) on the "far side" of the barns and ecology center. The estimated annual production will be 5,700 kilowatt-hours, offsetting 6,000 pounds of carbon emissions. The system was funded by a NOAA grant and Laudholm Trust donations.

Our previous systems of photovoltaic arrays have been producing enough electricity to meet 100% of our needs for more than 5 years now. To keep this achievement intact, we needed to add capacity for an energy-efficient air-source heat pump system being installed for the Dorothy Fish Coastal Resource Library this fall. (Climate control in the library has proven to be very difficult on the auditorium's heating system.) When detailing the new system with the guidance of ReVision Energy, we planned a small surplus over and above what is needed for the new heat pump, as we hope to install electric-vehicle charging stations in the parking lot next year.

These new panels, along with the heat pump and other improvements, represent another step on our path to fossil-free operations.