Solar Q and A

Who bought this and why?

A Bay County Board of Trustee member who is interested in the benefits of solar power took it upon himself to find a donor to supply a solar panel solution for Wirt Library.

Who is the donor?

Fred Craves, a Bay City native now living in California, donated the total funds ($70,000) for the project in memory of his parents.

Why solar here at Wirt?

Wirt has a large second floor roof space that is southern facing.

What do you do with the power that is generated?

The power generated is used immediately – it is not stored in a battery.  The electrical needs of Wirt far exceed the amount of solar power produced each day.

How much are you saving?

That is a good question!  It depends on the amount of sun we get each day. Some days, we save pennies, some days, we save dollars. The system is designed to produce 3 to 5 percent of our energy needs. Either way, whatever we save is better than paying it out. We are also “saving” carbon dioxide emissions as we no longer use the same amount of power from a power plant of any sort. The monitor shows actual numbers of kilowatts produced that vary from day to day.

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