A Report from Energy Ant—My Trip to the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Rooftop in Washington, DC
Energy Ant saw lots of solar panels and the Nation's capital from the roof of the U.S. Department of Energy's headquarters building.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Public Domain)
Energy Ant enjoying the great views from the solar rooftop.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Public Domain)
Energy Ant and friends on top of the U.S. Department of Energy's solar rooftop.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Public Domain)
It's Energy Ant here, on the rooftop of U.S. Department of Energy headquarters, the Forrestal Building. Why would I climb to the top of this eight-floor building in Washington, DC? Well, it is a terrific view of our Nation's capital city, but that's not what brought me here. I came up here with a group of Department of Energy employees to check out the "solar rooftop." It has one of the largest solar electric photovoltaic (pv) systems in Washington, DC. Almost 900 solar panels cover 2,000 square feet and collect sunlight to help power the building below.
This 205 kilowatt (kW) solar system provides about 1% of the building's peak energy needs Monday through Friday, and up to 8% of the energy required on weekends. The $2.3 million system was installed in September 2008 to help meet new goals for Federal buildings to become more energy efficient and increase their reliance on electricity from renewable sources.
In addition to the main array, this rooftop showcases four other types of solar panels. The different panels are of varying size and construction, but each produces 1 kW of electricity during the sunniest times of the day. This technology showcase gathers data to compare different solar panels side-by-side.
Besides solar rooftops, the tour guide told my group about green and white roofs. A green roof is one that has a rooftop garden. These gardens not only look good, but they help control storm water and add vegetation that naturally reduces carbon dioxide in the air. The biggest downside to rooftop gardens is their maintenance cost. White roofs are much simpler and have almost no maintenance costs. They are simply roofs that are painted to reflect the sunlight back into the atmosphere. The white paint reflects the sunlight and can reduce air conditioning energy consumption by up to 15%.
Well, I've seen some f-ant-astic things up here, but the summer heat is starting to get to me. I"m ready to go back inside where it's nice and cool. I can't wait to start planning my next energy adventure. Stay tuned!
