Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 14, 2008)
6 Clackamas Print Artj^ul Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Head librarian educates on tl benefits of a solar-panel syste Terry Mackey speaks to a campus audience about one of his newest steps sustainable living: the installation of a solar panel system on to his ho Emily Walters Arts & Culture Editor For somewhat-radical “green” supporter Terry. Mackey, the solar panels he installed on his house eight months ago are an invest ment that is already providing him with cheaper, more sustainable living. Mackey, who is the head ref erence librarian at the college, shared the experience and his newfound knowledge of solar power Tuesday, May 6, from noon to 1 p.m. in the McLoughlin Auditorium. As one of the many speak ers for the Sustainability Project at Clackamas, he spoke on what he titled, “Lessons from a 6.3 Kilowatt Solar Installation: How to Reduce Your Home’s Dependence on the Grid.” “When I see something that needs to be changed, I change it myself in my life,” Mackey defined as his philosophy. And he did just that when he and his wife made the decision to install a solar-panel system on to their home, allowing it to run entirely on solar electric power. Oregon, he claims, is “one of the best places on earth” to use such a technology. It seems that is especially true of the Portland Metro area, due to the flexibility of Portland General Electric (PGE) to work with so lar- panel users. In certain times of the year, Mackey said that the system he owns generates more power than others. CO2 saved in eight months: almost three tons Kilowatts produced in eight months: 3,564kWh Taking another step toward s the environment: pfTQ “PGE lets us bank that energy,” he said. Mackey is then able to use the extra power to keep his house run ning in the cold winter months, when the amount of energy cre ated is less than he uses. Picking the system and begin ning installation Mackey and his wife knew that they wanted to put solar panels on top of their home, but the first thing that they had to do was conduct research to find the best possible system for them. After getting proposals from several different companies, the one from Sunlight Solar - which has one of its bases in Bend - was picked above the rest John Shufelt Clackamas Print Speaker Terry Mackey informs a campus audi ence Tuesday, May 6, about his experience of plac ing a solar-panel system on the roof of his house. The 6.3 kilowatt system is comprised of 30 sunpower mod ules, each being 210 watt. In order to begin the installa tion process, Mackey needed to make a few updates to his house. He began by bringing in a new panel box, and afterward sacri ficed the skylight. Another preparation was build ing racks for the panels to sit in so that they would not directly touch the metal roof. Finally, the Sunlight Solar crew was able to transport the panels from Bend and install them on top of the Mackeys’ roof. A video can be seen of the last panel being established by search ing YouTube for “Stacey installs the last Solar Panel.” The resulti] Although the i tern cost thousand install, Mackey is back every day wit is generated fromi In fact, the first after the installais a total of $8.77, aj continued to be through the winter. The energy saved by the sysl be compared to I Mastercard comm CO2 saved in almost three tons. Kilowatts pro months: 3,564 kW Taking another taining the environ
