VIDEO: WVWC dedicates new solar array

BUCKHANNON, W.Va (WDTV) - West Virginia Wesleyan College and Pickering Energy Solutions dedicated a new solar array on Wednesday.

The array is expected to provide about 11 percent of power to the campus.

Pickering Energy Solutions, led by Dr. Charles Pickering, developed the project and will sell the produced power to WVWC on a power purchase agreement.

Previous projects Pickering Energy Solutions has developed on WVWC’s campus include solar panels on the roof of Annie Merner Pfeiffer Library and a 60 kW solar installation on a carport structure adjacent to the Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts which supports four electric vehicle charging stations.

“We’re so thankful to Dr. Pickering, and the USDA, for the opportunity to be a part of a more sustainable world,” Dr. James Moore, Interim President of WVWC said. “It’s so important that we at Wesleyan lead by example and embrace alternative energy solutions, and I’m proud that we are able to be part of ensuring that these sorts of projects are advanced.”

The completed project uses 1,328 bi-facial panels which have solar collection capabilities on both the front and back surfaces of the panels.

At the time of its installation, the Wesleyan solar array was the largest system installed in the First Energy/Mon Power system in West Virginia.

The project received permission to operate in April 2022.

The United States Department of Agriculture supported the project through a REAP grant to offset some of the cost of the construction project and a loan guarantee.

Officials say the system will provide enough clean, renewable energy to power over 63 homes and avoid the release of 727 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.

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