The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) now boasts the state’s largest solar cell array. The BWL is putting 432 solar panels behind the Stadium District development in Downtown Lansing.
“We are making energy history in the State of Michigan,” says BWL's general manager, Peter Lark. “Not only is the BWL building Michigan’s largest solar project, we are underscoring our state leadership role in acquiring clean, renewable energy.”
The panels will capture enough energy to bring electricity to 50 homes. Lark says the solar array will allow the BWL to use a renewable energy source in the summer and winter, which is when citizens consume the largest quantities of energy.
“This is only the beginning,” Lark says. “The Cedar Street Solar Array is a pilot project. We intend to build other solar arrays in the coming years, and will continue stocking our generation portfolio with various types of renewable energy, including biomass, landfill gas, hydro and wind.”
The Cedar Street Solar Array will sit on the grassy area that covers the BWL’s Dye Water Conditioning Plant. The project will cost an estimated $600,000.
Source: Mark Nixon, BWL
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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