Clayton jumping to front of class in solar power

Jul 04 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Under an appropriately blazing summer sun, a crowd gathered Tuesday to celebrate the placement of the first solar panel in what will be the largest single installation of solar electricity in the state of Missouri.

When completed, the array will contain 327 solar panels, which will sit atop a steel structure over the parking garage for the Heritage Building, 10 South Brentwood Boulevard.

The solar canopy is part of a larger renovation of the Heritage Building, built in 1952, for a new police station and municipal court for Clayton.

The solar project will produce about 204,000 kilowatt hours a year by drawing energy from the sun. It will provide all the energy needs of the parking garage and offset about a third of the main building's electrical needs.

That's enough to power about 19 homes for a year, according to Brightergy, a solar development company that was awarded the contract for the installation.

Brightergy is working with Kaemmerlen Electric of St. Louis on the project.

By generating electricity from solar power instead of fossil fuels, the city expects to offset the carbon dioxide emissions of 28 automobiles a year.

Sara Parker Pauley, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, was among local, county, state and federal officials and corporate leaders on hand for the occasion.

"You are a shining example for the state of Missouri," she told Clayton officials.

Mayor Linda Goldstein said that the city was "committed to being a regional leader in green energy solutions and ...efficient use of energy."

Goldstein, Pauley and U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, were among those who took a lift up to the top of the steel canopy with the first panel on board.

This $882,000 solar project is largely funded through a federal stimulus grant, plus rebates from Ameren Missouri, Pauley said. It's expected to save about $14,000 annually in energy costs.

Along with the solar project, Clayton has committed $978,008 for retrofitting the building with energy-efficient equipment, Pauley said.

The retrofit is also partly financed by a $232,046 stimulus grant.

Pauley said the retrofit would save more than $191,000 annually in energy costs. The reduction of carbon dioxide from the retrofit will be the equivalent of removing more than 384 cars from the roads, she said.

The Heritage is being renovated by Paric Corp., working with The Lawrence Group architectural firm.

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