News -  The following information provided by the Arizona Capitol Times Solar Panels Will Top DEQ Parking Garage - By GRANT SMITH gsmith@azcapitoltimes.com The new Arizona Department of Environmental Quality parking garage is going to become an electric generating station.  The Legislative Governmental Mall Commission endorsed a plan on Aug.21 to install 900 solar panels on the parking garage roof.  According to Cassius McChesney, solar program manager for Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the panels will provide about 100 kilowatts of alternating current electricity, enough to power 39 to 40 homes.  Mr. McChesney said the installation would become part of the Arizona Public Service Co. Solar Partners Program, which will install the panels and maintain them.  He said any electricity from the panels that is not used within the DEQ complex will go onto the APS power gird for use by other electric customers.  David Richert, Phoenix planning director and a commission member, asked when similar installation would be economically practical for installation on homes.  Mr. McChesney said the Solar Partners Program was working to make them practical. $6 A Watt "We started with an installation in Flagstaff that cost about $9 a watt," he said. "This will cost about $6 a watt, but traditional generating methods are still much cheaper.”  He said Solar Partners currently has about 1.7 megawatts of solar panels installed throughout the state.  Michael Wirtanen, an architect for Opus West Construction, which built the new DEQ complex under a 25-year lease-to-own agreement with the state, said the solar panels would he used as the roof of carports to be added to the top level of the parking garage.  As an added benefit, the panels will provide shade for about 90 vehicles.  DEQ moved into us new headquarters in July. The complex at 1110 W. Washington St., consists of an office building and parking garage that wrap around the historic Evans home.  In addition to DEQ, the complex also houses the Residential Utility Consumer Office, Department of Building and Fire Safety, Office of Tourism and the Board of Technical Registration.  In the construction of the $45 million office building, Opus West incorporated a number of energy and environmental conservation features such as: A lighting system that takes advantage of outdoor lighting and senses movement so that lights are turned off in unoccupied spaces. A system that collects excess water from the rooftop-cooling tower for landscape irrigation. A roof that reflects heat and reduces the “heat island” effect." TO MAIN NEWS PAGE