EWSU opens new solar array

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - The Evansville Water and Sewer Utility celebrated the completion of its solar array project off Campground Road.

This specific solar array location now puts out more than 200,000 kilowatts of power. Organizers say that’s more than any other fleet in the area. They say that’s enough electricity to power a car over 600,000 miles or the equivalent of 3.3 tankers of gasoline.

Construction for Phase 2 started in January, doubling the size of the fleet.

Leaders tell us the entire project cost more than $300,000, but within eight years, this project will pay itself off.

”We actually used larger panels. Therefore, we had fewer panels to buy, but we got the same amount of energy out of them,” said Ed Ziemer, Director of Operations. “This generates about $45,000 a year worth of energy.”

Ziemer says on sunny days the arrays will actually generate more power than needed, covering them for perhaps more cloudy months this winter.

Copyright 2020 WFIE. All rights reserved.