GCC uses solar power to save

Solar power is helping Guam Community College lower its power costs, and marking a shift toward a more renewable future for the college.

At a press conference yesterday, Bill Hagen, whose family owns Pacific Solar & Photovoltaics, congratulated GCC for its role as the largest civilian producer of renewable energy on island.

The college has undertaken significant renovations to its campus, and with the help of the federal government, built its first LEED-certified building, and has a second in the works. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a designation developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to provide standards for green building design and construction.

The college boasts more than 200 solar panels that currently produce about 250 kilowatt hours per day, which is enough to run 2,500 110-watt light bulbs per hour, said Hagen.

A second set of solar arrays that are still in the works will double the energy production by the end of the year.

The solar generation will save GCC about $2,700 per month, or $31,000 every year, according to a press release issued by GCC.

Hagen said that the solar panels are designed to be typhoon-proof and can run for approximately 25 years.

The LEED-certified buildings and solar panels were made possible through funding provided by the federal government, which has emphasized renewable energy in the past few years, said Okada.

"We know that across the nation everybody's looking at renewable energy projects," said Okada.

She said as an institution that focuses on career training, GCC is also looking to provide training in the renewable energy industry.

"It's an emerging market, so this is something (that) as people become more energy conscious, we'll start to provide training associated with those particular occupational areas," she said.

Sen. Dennis Rodriguez Jr., chairman of the committee on health and economic development, attended the event, and said he was inspired by the school's efforts to add renewable energy to their power. He said he is hoping to mimic many of the schools efforts in new government buildings to help push Guam away from a reliance on fossil fuels to a more sustainable future.