Update:

Sam Blyman
COM 170-101
Assignment #3

What’s New at Chesapeake?

Chesapeake College is building a solar array across the Wye Mill’s campus area to include another alternative energy source, and it is to be completed in the coming months. Chesapeake College is a leader in green energy and is working towards sustainability, and this project complements the wind turbine that has become the symbol of the college since November 2011.This beginning of a multi-phase project will be the largest ever at a Maryland community college.

By the end of May 2015, Chesapeake will have a six-acre, two megawatt solar panel array on campus. Going even further, Chesapeake’s “CLEEN” Project is a proposition to the development and construction of a wind and solar education facility, CLEEN, on campus. It will model emerging renewable energy technologies while providing education and training opportunities for students and small businesses.

Gregory Farley, the associate professor of biological science with the school’s CLEEN program had said that “those students will not only learn the technology, but business behind it, and maybe even go out to “clean up” this world.” Chesapeake, a leader in energy conservation and sustainability will promote CLEEN as a community resource for green business development, training, learning, and will allow the College to expand their programs and to design hands-on experiences. The Chesapeake College Center for Leadership in Environmental Education will continue the College’s vision of optimal experiences for its students, by being a power generating and teaching tool meeting every requirement.

In October 2014 the College broke ground for the large solar panel project. Those who grabbed their shovels at the ceremony were President Barbara Viniar, Board Chairman Catherine Poe, and Chris Hill of the Division Director of Government Affairs and Communications of the Maryland Energy Association. The college is working with Solar City to develop the project, which will be built at no cost to Chesapeake’s students or the taxpayers. The company will install and maintain the panels at no cost for a 20-year period.

This new adventure in 5 years may cut energy consumption on campus by 35 percent. It was noted that Chesapeake will see thousands of dollars in energy cost savings for every 20 years. Just over 5,000 panels will be installed on the ground near the school’s athletic fields, and just over 2,000 will be installed on the top of a parking canopy on campus. Four panels will be installed at the base of the wind turbine as a student learning module for the school’s Center for Leadership in Environmental Education (CLEEN).

The College will continue to have plans to push farther into having more renewable energy and clean up their “carbon-footprint.”