AUSTIN, Texas, June 22 (UPI) -- Texas-based Green Mountain Energy Co. began installing a solar array on the roof of the new Ronald McDonald House in Austin, Texas.
Green Mountain, one of the nation's leading providers of renewable energy technologies, and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin and Central Texas began installing a 10.8 kilowatt solar array at the Mueller redevelopment.
The new Ronald McDonald House, expected to open in November 2007, is the first solar-powered Ronald McDonald House in the country and will be located adjacent to the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas.
The 10.8 kilowatt Green Mountain Energy Solar power system at Ronald McDonald House is expected to be completed by fall 2007 and will be dedicated in November, along with the completed Ronald McDonald House. The array will have 54 photovoltaic solar panels and cover nearly 950 square feet. Officials estimate it will power up to 15 rooms in the house.
Additionally, there will be an educational kiosk located in the RMHC-ACT explaining how the solar array works and how it contributes to the building's energy efficiency.
"We are proud to be the first Ronald McDonald House in the United States to incorporate photovoltaic solar panels into our design and to set the standard for innovative ways to incorporate cleaner, renewable technologies," said Kent Burress, RMHC-ACT executive director. "The solar panels are an integral architectural feature of this new state-of-the-art Ronald McDonald House, making not only a strong visual statement but also bearing evidence to this House's commitment to sustainable design and protection of our environment."
