Providing 100% renewable energy, the solar farm powers about half the energy needs of the Carolina North campus. (Submitted photo)
In March, for the first time ever, Noah Kittner, an assistant professor in the environmental sciences and engineering department of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, was able to take his students on a visit to a solar farm without leaving the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. How? The land where Horace Williams Airport once stood is now home to the first large-scale solar facility owned and operated by the University and managed by UNC Energy Services.
The field’s 900 solar panels are expected to produce 500,000 kilowatt-hours of energy every year.
“It’s one thing for my students to create solar generation models in class,” said Kittner. “But it’s another for them to go out to a real project and think about the design considerations. And for some of my students, it was their first time seeing a solar field in person.”
The energy modeling class was especially interested in learning more about the bifacial panels, which can absorb the sun’s energy on both sides. Though these panels are less common, they can be a beneficial addition to ground-mounted installations. The field also has its own mini weather station that controls the panels.
“The station tells the panels to tilt, and the whole row will tilt together,” said Melanie Elliott, sustainability analyst with Sustainable Carolina. “This feature, along with the bifacial panels, increases energy generation as well as the cost of the project. It’s a great lesson in maximizing energy generation and capacity while operating in a fixed budget.”
Mike Piehler, the University’s chief sustainability officer, first connected with UNC Energy Services on the project in 2020.
“I learned about the airport solar project well before I took on my sustainability roles,” said Piehler. “It is wonderful to have it completed and providing educational, operational and sustainability benefits.”
“The solar energy generated at this site in its first 12 weeks of operation was more than the solar energy generated in an entire year by all other campus solar installations combined,” said Elliott.
Including the new solar farm, UNC-Chapel Hill is home to five photovoltaic solar arrays. The North Carolina Botanical Garden, Curtis Media Center, Frank Porter Graham Student Union and the Bell Tower parking deck all have rooftop installations.
UNC Energy Services provided Kittner’s students with data on the solar panel’s energy generation, power output, current and voltage after their trip to the solar field.
“Looking at this data was more impactful for them since they had been to the site,” said Kittner. “This dovetailed nicely with other class projects where we’ve thought about when energy storage might make sense.”
The energy produced at the solar field directly feeds into buildings across the street, along Airport Drive. Although the solar field isn’t their only source of electricity, the data shows that these buildings consume all the energy generated at the field.
“This is one piece of the diversification of our energy portfolio,” said Elliott. “In the future, especially as campus continues to expand, the University will implement new technologies in line with its energy efficiency strategies.”
Originally published by Sustainable Carolina.