Location: 32.5° N Latitude, 99.7° W Longitude, roof mounted, south side of ITEC building.

Footprint: 53 feet by 4 feet

Array orientation (Azimuth): 192° (12° west of south)

Array orientation (tilt): 28°

Solar Modules: 8, each 74.5 by 50.5 inches, 285 watt output at Standard Test Conditions (STC).

Connections to school: Through an Omnion Inverter (Series 2400, 2.5kW) converting DC to AC power. Alternating current energy is "backfed" through a 30 amp breaker in one of the building's load centers. No energy storage batteries are included in this system.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) installation at Abilene Christian University (ACU) has been producing electrical energy from the sun since July of 1997. The system provides unique educational opportunities to the Industrial Technology students and faculty at ACU.

The array modules are mounted on the roof of the ACU Industrial Technology Education Center (ITEC) using ballast trays filled with gravel to secure the solar modules in place. The modules are fixed at a 28° tilt to maximize the solar energy captured by the system.

Each of the eight modules of the PV array can produce up to 285 watts of dc power under the right conditions. That means a total of 2,280 watts of power can be produced directly from sunlight!

Greg Blair of West Texas Utilities Co. (L) and Dr. Jim Cooke, head of the Industrial Technology Department at ACU (R) are pictured here beside the balance of system panel that converts the dc power from the PV array into ac power that is monitored by the Datapult^(sm) system.

Industrial Technology Education Center (ITEC) floor area: 12,240 square feet.

Internet Weather Map Sites
http://www.intellicast.com : (Abilene, Texas is the largest nearby city; view satellite, radar maps; view SUNCASTgraphic for amounts of sunshine in SKICAST)

http://www.weather.com: (lists local sunrise and sunset times)