Solar Panels Now on Hearst Hall

On an appropriately sunny day, 26 solar panels were installed on top of Hearst Hall, thanks to the efforts of student environmentalists.

The project is the culmination of nearly a year’s work by Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) co-presidents Christina Boulineaux ’10 and Charlotte Zimmerman ’11. They proposed the installation of solar panels, researched contractors, and managed to raise $20,000 with a grant from the William Penn Foundation and by selling baked goods and reusable bags. They then had to make presentations to several oversight committees, including one for approval to make this change to a historic building on the Cathedral Close. They were encouraged by teachers and administrators, but worked through it entirely on their own.

Six more panels will be installed on a different part of the roof in the coming weeks, but the first panels will be hooked up shortly so that electricity starts flowing and students can track the output via a webpage counter.

NCS Facilities took advantage of the already-scheduled replacement of the flat portion of the Hearst Hall roof to include brackets to secure the panels. Once the roofing work was completed, Astrum Solar installed the first 26 panels in a day. In order to preserve the historic appearance of Hearst Hall, the panels are not visible from the ground. But this 1900 architectural landmark now has a very contemporary addition, as you can see in the photos on the left.