Solar power sees surge

The Porter County Career Center has a bevy of energy-saving technologies on display — from LED lights to a wind turbine.

But the roof of the building is a busy place — as two dozen more solar panels are installed by students and a few professionals. They will join a dozen panels that were installed about two years ago.

The school joins an increasing number of Northwest Indiana residents and businesses installing solar panels to take advantage of energy savings and support green energy efforts.

Porter County Career Center Director Jon Groth said the solar panels and windmills the students have built prove their value on two fronts.

“Our philosophy is we’re trying to reduce our carbon footprint and lower our NIPSCO bills,” Groth said.

The panels serve a practical purpose during power outages. After severe storms knocked out power to thousands of residents in early August, Groth said the Career Center lights were “working the whole time because of the solar power.” Even if the solar power runs out, the school’s emergency lights operate on batteries.

 Kevin Moore, owner of Midwest Wind and Solar, said that business is booming. His company installs wind, solar electric and solar hot water systems.

“It’s just been crazy,” Moore said. “When the phone rings, somebody will say that they want a wind turbine, but once I educate them about payback, they’ll typically become a solar customer.”

About 60 percent of his business is residential, 30 percent commercial and the remaining 10 percent covers municipal and school buildings.

Moore said that wind doesn’t make much sense unless it’s installed 100 feet in the air and on a 2- to 3-acre plot.

“Solar is more for the average consumer,” Moore said. “As long as you have an unshaded location, it’s almost like a satellite dish.”

Valparaiso resident Elizabeth Gingerich, who is a professor of sustainability in business at Valparaiso University, said the impact of 24 solar panels saves money and decreases the carbon footprint.

“Our main goal was to get this commercial building (at 409 E. Lincolnway) off the grid and to set an example for other business owners to do the same,” Gingerich wrote in an e-mail. “Not only will we be producing sufficient energy to meet all of the needs of our tenants, but NIPSCO will be purchasing any overage.”

Gingerich said she saves $2,200 annually by using NIPSCO’s feed-in tariff. She said that the system will reduce the building’s carbon footprint by 137 tons.

Though prices for solar panels have decreased in recent years, installation is still a considerable investment, with projects averaging around $1,000 per panel.

With a 30 percent federal tax credit, Moore said solar system owners can get back their investment between four and eight years, depending on which NIPSCO renewable energy program they enroll in.