“Makerspaces” at four area colleges and universities are expanding their resources and/or programs to give regional small manufacturers increased access to equipment and the knowledge on how to use it. “The makerspaces will provide manufacturers and entrepreneurs throughout the Southwestern Pennsylvania region with easy access to equipment and services that
Penn State, Westmoreland Community College, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Community College of Allegheny County will receive $1.5 million for spaces that give tech manufacturers access to equipment and services.
Tribune-Review file
Fred Kraybill uses only solar power to provide electricity for his building in Point Breeze. Portrait taken on Thursday, May 28, 2015.
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Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) will install solar panels at the North Campus location, an environmentally friendly measure that has already been employed at other CCAC buildings.
The North Campus in McCandless is the most energy-efficient of CCAC’s campuses, Elaine Sadowski, the school’s energy manager, said. But it also has the highest electricity rates.
“We pay more per kilowatt hour at North Campus than we do anywhere else, so we were looking at ways to cut costs,” Sadowski said. “One of the things that came up was solar energy. We can actually generate electricity cheaper than we can buy it. So that was the main impetus.”
CCAC goes big on solar with planned 540-kilowatt panel installation
Pittsburgh, not exactly known for its sunshine, is swiftly becoming a city that embraces the myriad benefits of solar power.
Recent large installations at Hazelwood Green’s Mill 19 (the country’s largest single-slope array) and Global Links in Green Tree have shown the momentum for solar is real.
Now the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is affirming its commitment to clean solar energy with a new 540-kilowatt solar panel installation that covers the entire roof of their North Campus building in McCandless.
It’s about efficiency, of course, but also about setting an example for students.