We noticed those too

Andrew Oh-Willeke,

I drove by the Federal Center in Jefferson County, Colorado last weekend for the first time in many months. It was sporting a large array of solar panels that wasn't there the last time I looked. I was driving, so I can't offer you a picture. You'll have to either trust me or drive on Highway 6 (near the Kipling cross street) to see for yourself.

We saw those a couple of weekends ago as well, it is a massive array. As one of Andrew's commentators notes the local CBS affiliate had a story on this last fall,

A new solar energy park off 6th Avenue in Lakewood is almost ready to help power some of the lights and computers at the Denver Federal Center. The milestone comes a year after President Bush called on all federal agencies to increase the use of renewable energy.

The state of the art panels called photovoltaics will soon be converting sunshine into electricity.

"This is the first time it's made good business sense," said Scott Conner, director of the service center at the federal campus in Lakewood.

The $7 million solar park is cost effective because Xcel Energy is buying all the renewable energy credits.

"This project has a simple payback of 13 years, Conner said. "That's basically when all of our capitol investment has been paid off and we break even and all of the power generated after that is free to us."

The park is rated at one megawatt and will provide 3 percent of the Federal Center's overall electrical needs. The real help comes during the summer's extended daylight when the system will supply 10 percent of the peak electrical demand.

The park was located on the vacant land along 6th Avenue so the estimated 65,000 cars that pass by can see it and tell others that the government is going green.

Smart project. I like the idea of the government placing the array in a highly visible spot in order to lead by example. As solar technology continues to improve hopefully we'll see more of these "parks" put into place.