January 17, 2003—Evergreen Solar, Inc. has installed a 9 kW photovoltaic (PV) system at the White House for the National Park Service. The new solar roof in Washington, D.C. is the first solar electric project on the White House grounds.
Solar Design Associates designed and oversaw the installation, which was placed on the roof of the main building used for White House grounds maintenance. The PV system directly feeds solar-generated power into the White House grounds’ distribution system, providing electricity wherever it is needed. Two solar thermal systems, one to heat the pool and spa and one to provide domestic hot water, were also installed.
The grid-tied PV system consists of 167 solar panels manufactured by Evergreen Solar that cover the roof of the maintenance facility. The entire system installation was completed over a three-day period and includes a data acquisition system for monitoring the performance of the array and its ancillary electronic components.
Solar Design Associates selected Evergreen Solar to supply the PV panels for the project due to the superior quality of the panels and the fact that they were made in America.
For more information, contact Evergreen Solar.
