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| Courtesy
of the Desert Outdoor Center |
Twelve
large solar panels recently installed at the Desert
Outdoor Center at
Lake Pleasant use the sun’s energy to heat and
cool the 15,000 square-foot
educational facility. The system is the first of its
kind installed in Arizona
and showcases one of the many uses for solar energy.
(Click picture for larger image) |
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Outdoor
education center uses sun’s energy to cool facility
by
Ambria Hammel
PEORIA
– While many Valley residents use solar energy to heat their
pools or the hot water for their homes, few apply it to
both the heating and cooling of a structure. But that is
exactly what the Desert Outdoor Center has done.
On
April 22, the Desert Outdoor Center at Lake Pleasant held
a public open house to showcase the innovative solar technology
recently installed for its 15,000 square‑foot facility.
It is the state’s first solar thermal heating, ventilation
and cooling system.
Rich
Glinski, parks supervisor, expects the technology to cover
50‑70 percent of the facility’s energy costs. He began
researching heating and cooling alternatives two years ago
when the park’s utility bills averaged $40,000 per year.
As an education center with 25 programs including Earth
Energy, Glinski sought a way to showcase solar technology
to school‑aged children.
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