Solar System in New Fire Station

When you think of a fire station, you normally think of “RED”, but there is also a lot of “GREEN” in the new Crooked River Ranch Fire Station!

SOLAR POWER RESULTS IN SAVINGS

An analysis of the solar system in the new fire station after its first full year of operation revealed energy produced by 216 photovoltaic rooftop solar panels provided approximately 39 percent of electricity used at the station. The 41 KW system was designed and installed by Trinity Electric of Crooked River Ranch, at a cost of $387,000.

The Crooked River Ranch Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors, when planning a new station nearly four times the square footage of the old station, anticipated both larger and escalating energy bills. As a result, solar power was addressed. Initial costs, however, would not fit into an already trimmed building budget. Fortunately, help was found through the Energy Trust of Oregon where advice and partial funding was available. It was learned that the Oregon Department of Energy could provide some pass-through BETC (business energy tax credits). The two government programs covered about half the cost, with the remainder fulfilled by a grant from the Ford Family Foundation of Roseburg, Oregon. Bank of the Cascades was a willing BETC partner.

Original plans had called for propane fired forced air heat in the administrative portion of the building, and propane fired “radiant” overhead tube heating for the apparatus bays. When the decision was made to go “solar”, the administrative portion of the building was changed to electric forced air, and the apparatus bays to “radiant floor” heat (electric boilers and pumps circulate heated fluid thru tubing set in the concrete floor) to take advantage of the solar system. Additional savings are derived from the fact that the concrete floor in the bays is quite thick, and insulated, providing excellent heat storage. Heat that is lost when the bay doors are opened is quickly replaced by heat that is stored in the floor slab.

No Crooked River Ranch taxpayer dollars were used to fund the solar system. Components are warranted for 25 years.

Another financial incentive in the amount of $4,340 was awarded by the Energy Trust of Oregon for energy efficient lighting used in the new building, which was designed by architect Ivars Lazdins.

We believe that ours is the first fire station, at least in Oregon, to “go solar”!

New Photovoltaic Panels Being Installed

Power Inverters and Grid Connections

Release Date: 2009-11-28

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