WWU solar panels can produce up to 2,300 kilowatt hours a year

LIZ BEAULIEU

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BELLINGHAM — Western Washington University began using 12 new solar panels Wednesday to offset energy costs.

The panels, on top of the Viking Union, will generate between 1,900 and 2,300 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, depending on the amount of available sunlight, said John Thompson, assistant marketing director at Western Washington University.

The Solar Demonstration Project was organized by WWU’s Students for Renewable Energy and funded by donations from Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Puget Sound Energy and the WWU Foundation President’s Campus Enrichment Fund. Local company Alpha Energy donated the panels.

The project also includes an interactive educational kiosk inside the Viking Union that explains how the system works and how much power the panels are producing.