Two representatives from Marshall County establishments that have tackled solar energy projects highlighted their experiences during a workshop in Plymouth Tuesday night.
The first individual who spoke to the crowd was Director of Ecological Relations for the Center at Donaldson Adam Thada.
Thada mentioned that the Center at Donaldson’s system has yet to be turned on but it will be soon.
He explained, “This one is going to be turned online here in a couple of weeks and we’ll start producing energy. To our knowledge, it will be the largest solar installation at an institute of higher education in Indiana…at least for a year before Notre Dame beats us, they just announced that.”
Thada noted that their project includes a ground mound installation that is located in a wide-open space behind the dorms as well as an installation on the flat rooftop on the Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center.
He said the advantage of putting panels on a roof is that you don’t have to pay for the additional equipment required to install them in the ground. However, the downside is you wouldn’t get the same optimal tilt that is available with a ground mount.
Next, attendees heard from Don Wisniewski the owner of Plymouth Products. He said the business went solar back in July of 2017 and the entire project only took about three months to complete. He explained that he sees solar energy as an investment in multiple ways.
Wisniewski shared, “I look at it as a financial investment, a community investment and a social investment with a big return on all three of those.”
He said as a result of another sustainability project they did simultaneously, they were initially creating far more energy than the facility required.
He noted, “One of the things we did at the same time was we converted all of our fluorescent lights into LED lights. What that did is it reduced our electricity by 45 percent so therefore now our solar panels don’t have to use as much of the stuff.”
Wisniewski said with the money they’ve saved, he’s been able to give back to his employees by buying air conditioning units for the factory.
Additional information from this workshop will be included in future stories and will be featured on Max 98.3 FM this Sunday at noon during our Maximum Impact Program.
