By NATE TABAK
Tuesday, August 21, 2001

Source: Daily Californian http://www.dailycal.org/article.asp?id=5929

In what could be the first step in a campuswide effort, ASUC may install solar panels on the roof of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union in order to dampen the effect of soaring energy costs.

The examination of solar power comes as ASUC is looking for ways to reduce its energy consumption.

"We'll do everything we can to conserve, but after that we then look at the financial viability of installing solar," said ASUC Auxiliary Director Thomas Cordi. "Solar is not cheap—solar's gonna cost $500,000 plus."

Cordi said that although ASUC could never completely rely on solar energy, the alternative energy source could relieve energy costs.

With the supply of solar energy, Cordi said, ASUC could either put the power in the university's grid and receive monetary credit for the excess power or distribute the energy among ASUC-managed buildings.

ASUC will commission an energy audit to examine energy consumption, Cordi said.

Preliminary information provided by Sun Light & Power Company, the company commissioned to evaluate the feasibility of installing solar power, suggests that ASUC buildings may be consuming an abnormally high amount of energy.

"It did seem like an huge amount of energy, but until you can track it all down and where it's all going, it may seem like a lot," Gare Gerber, the president of Sun Light & Power Company said.

Gerber said the student union is a good candidate for solar power.

"It will definitely be feasible," he said. "It's just a question of how big the system can be compared to usage on the premises."

Gerber said current estimates for installing panels on the student union were about $500,000, though nearly half of the cost would be subsidized by a state rebate. The solar units typically last for 30 years and pay for themselves in between 12 and 15 years, Gerber said.

The solar plan may also include an energy sharing partnership with the university.

"We could ring the entire building with these (solar) modules," Gerber said. "We could then also, if we got other participation with the rest of the campus, have a solar farm."

Cordi said UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl is interested in ASUC's solar plans and is considering a partnership with ASUC to install the panels campuswide.

Berdahl could not be reached for comment.

Assistant Vice Chancellor Ron Coley declined to comment directly because he has not received ASUC's plans for solar energy. He said, however, that the university is not discounting renewable energy.

"Alternative energy is a very important concern, and we're very interested when there's an opportunity," he said.

Cordi said that though it is possible for solar power to be a money-maker by supplying other parts of the campus with power in the future, ASUC is focusing on finding funds to get the project started.

"Right now we're just looking to provide more power," Cordi said. "The idea of a power broker—that's just in our wildest imagination."

In coming weeks the Sun Light & Power Company will present its findings to ASUC. It is not known when the panels would be installed.

Cordi said he was somewhat skeptical about the Sun Light & Power Company's estimate that ASUC was using an excessive amount of energy and that ASUC would exercise an upcoming energy audit to confirm the numbers.

In other improvements to the student union, the ASUC Store Operations Board reported that they have replaced the floor of the Pauley Ballroom in the student union for the first time in 20 years. The board has also approved a contract to bring the Postal Annex into the union.