East Arkansas Community College in Forrest City has completed the installation an ‘Enphase Solar Panel System'
March 2, 2011
East Arkansas Community College-Forrest City
Press Release – Photo Attached
As part of its Renewable Energy program, East Arkansas Community College in Forrest City has completed the installation an ‘Enphase Solar Panel System’ consisting of eight panels added to the roof of EACC Office Building 6. The system is designed to generate power for the building from natural sunlight. Woodruff Electric Cooperative was instrumental in the execution of the project by providing technical help to determine methods in which the College can take advantage of abundant solar power.
The EACC Renewable Energy Program (RET) was implemented under a U.S. Department of Labor grant just over two years ago. The initial focus of the training program was in bio fuel production and EACC is now expanding the program to include additional alternative energy sources. This solar project was directed by RET instructor Jim Parker, who conceived the idea, researched the possibilities and oversaw the installation of the panels by a licensed solar installer on the south-facing roof of the office building.
The solar panels will take advantage of the plentiful supply of sunlight and will convert it into usable electric power for the building. In addition, the College has been approved to receive rebates on electric power produced by the panels from the Arkansas Energy Office. The rebate program is a component of President Obama’s Investment Recovery Act (Stimulus Funds).
“Students in the RET program will have the opportunity to work with a real time functioning photo voltaic system to study and monitor,” said instructor Jim Parker. “The new solar panel system has the capability to be accessed from the Internet to monitor the performance of the panels as a group and as individual units. We have an additional four-panel system that was purchased for training and it will be setup by students at the new Transportation and Technology Center when it opens later this year. The training system is functionally identical to the system on Office Building 6 and will provide hands-on experience in the lab.”
There are a host of possible careers related to the RET programs in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, installation, and maintenance, as well as scientific and technical, administrative, and service-related activities, that contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality.
For more information about the RET programs, please call 870-633-4480 ext. 368.
Photo: The solar panels on the roof of Office Building 6 on the EACC campus. Students in the RET program are (front row from left): Patrick Huey, Nyla Nelson, instructor Jim Parker, and Lafealle Long
Back row from left: Jeffery Jackson, and Daniel Smith