Solar powered reservoir

5 March 2008

The City of Hillsboro, Oregon has awarded Honeywell a solar project that is expected to cut the city’s energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Under the agreement, Honeywell will install ground-mounted solar panels next to the Hillsboro Evergreen Reservoir water storage facility and sell the electricity the panels produce to the city for use at the reservoir.

The panels are expected to generate more than 104,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, almost 20 percent of the power needed for the 15 million-gallon Evergreen Reservoir.

Energy Trust of Oregon, a nonprofit organisation that promotes the use of efficient energy technologies and renewable resources, will help fund part of the project.

Honeywell also will work with Renewable NRG based in Portland, Oregon, to install the solar panels. The SolarWorld Group will supply the solar modules and installation hardware.

Honeywell expects to install the solar panels and begin providing electricity for the Evergreen Reservoir by July.