Going back to solar power

by Rivkela Brodsky

Daily Lobo

Solar energy is returning to the mechanical engineering building.

Assistant professors Andrea Mammoli and Peter Vorobieff received a $200,000 grant in February from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to refurbish the solar panels adorning the roof of the building.

They hope the panels will run the heating and cooling systems of the building, and cut down on energy costs by about 20 percent, Vorobieff said. Right now, the department pays about $30,000 in energy costs.

The system to do that is already in place.

That's because when the building opened in 1980, it was equipped with solar panels, water storage tanks, a pump, thick walls and small windows.

Solar power was part of its infrastructure.

Vorobieff said it was the most energy-efficient building on campus when it was constructed.

At the groundbreaking ceremony in October of 1980, Sen. Pete Domenici called the building a step in the right direction for energy use in the nation.

After a couple accidents damaged the roof, caused by glycol, the anti-freeze fluid in the solar panels, the system was abandoned, Mammoli said. Also, funding for maintenance of the panels ran out.

Maurice Wildin, professor emeritus, was responsible for the system in the '80s. He said the system was used for about 10 years.

He said it was shut down because Physical Plant didn't want to repair the roof anymore. He said the glycol solution tends to tear up roofs. Plus, he said, there wasn't a good reason to keep the system. Parts of it were not being used, he said.

He said the current project is a good idea.

"I'm sorry we had to stop using it," he said.

Mammoli said the department never should have stopped using the system.

Mammoli and Vorobieff had been talking about repairing the solar panel system on the building since 2000.

"We both thought this was too cool to leave," Mammoli said.

Mammoli spent some time in Italy a couple years ago studying passive solar energy and natural heating and cooling. When he came back, he was inspired to get the system on the mechanical engineering building working again.

He said he was just looking for a source of funding to do it.

Then, they discovered a grant last summer for energy conservation offered by the state, called the Clean Energy Grant Program.

The grant will help them purchase materials, as well as provide some funding for student salaries and salaries for Mammoli and Vorobieff.

"A lot of credit should go to the state," he said. "The state is way ahead of the federal level - they (the federal level) say pretty things about renewing energy, but they cut funding to zero."

As of Tuesday, 88 solar panels still lay in the basement of the building, unused.

Mammoli and Vorobieff will be placing them on the roof of the building and are purchasing about 40 more panels.

They also plan on refurbishing water storage tanks and getting another pumping system placed in the basement of the building. The current system uses one pump. Two pumps will be used to keep the system running and keep the water in the panels from freezing at night. They will be using only water in the panels so the roof will not be damaged if the panels break.

"We're designing a few fail-safe methods," Mammoli said.

The system will cool and heat the building using two cycles - one in the summer and one in the winter.

During the winter, water is heated in the panels and stored, which heats the building. During the summer, hot water from the panels circulates to absorption chillers, which cool the water. That water can be stored or used directly in cooling the building. They can also use electric air conditioners in the building to cool water at night when energy costs are lower. This water can be stored for cooling the building during the day.

Mechanical engineering professor Greg Starr was one of the first to move into the building when it opened, he said. The system was used for most of the '80s, and the building was the most comfortable during that time - cool in the summer and warm in the winter, he said.

Mammoli said many students complain about the temperature of the building.

Mammoli and Vorobieff are hoping the new system will alleviate that.

They are also hoping to make it an educational program for students.

"You can do a lot with the sun, and in the end, it doesn't cost a whole lot more," Mammoli said.

He said students will be able to do research on the system.

So far, they have two students working on the project and two more who may join them in the summer.

Vorobieff said after the system is complete, he would like there to be hands-on courses on solar engineering for undergraduate and graduate students.

"We not only need to put the system together, but raise awareness with graduates in New Mexico," he said.

They hope to have the system working by February, Vorobieff said.

"If it works, it's just a beginning. There are a lot of buildings on campus with flat roofs," he said.

Besides that, fuel costs continue to increase, Vorobieff said.

But, using solar energy for fuel costs is the wrong reason, Mammoli said.

"The right reason is that it's inherently good," he said.