First meeting of S.C. Solar Council to showcase new developments

The S.C. Solar Council will hold its first meeting in Florence County on Friday at the Environmental Discovery Center at Lynches River County Park.
The meeting will showcase new developments in solar technology and will demonstrate how they are being put to use in the Pee Dee, said David Wach, manager of the Utilities Department and Energy Management division at Roche Carolina Inc.
Wach is an S.C. Solar Council board member and one of the event’s organizers.
“Every quarter, we organize a member meeting throughout the different locations in the state,” he said. “When we hold a meeting, we try to organize a tour of a site that is local to that meeting location where people can go out and see a solar installation.”
The installation people attending the meeting will see a large residential solar installation in Lake City. Wach said it will give people a chance to see some of the possibilities surrounding solar energy for the Pee Dee.
“It’s an opportunity to find out what incentives and what the benefits are of solar energy,” he said. “Also, (it gives them a chance) to network with folks who can provide answers (about solar energy).”
Wach said one of his main interests in the council is learning how solar energy can be used at Roche.
“I’m involved in it because Roche is putting in a solar cooling installation here at this site,” he said. “It is a first in the state.”
Wach said he thinks South Carolina is the perfect place to test a solar electricity system because there is an abundance of sunshine throughout the year.
“We believe this is a technology that matches the South Carolina weather patterns perfectly,” he said. “We have a lot of solar thermal capacity in the state.”
Roche plans to complete the installation by the end of the year, Wach said. The project was made possible through a $200,000 grant from the S.C. Department of Agriculture, which was administered by the S.C. Energy Office to supplement the development of the technology.
Wach said he thinks the meeting, the tour of the residential solar installation and the upcoming installation at Roche will help convince people solar energy is a valid, renewable form of energy that can be easily accessed in South Carolina.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, orders for photovoltaic PV — commonly called solar — cells to harness the sun’s energy have continued to rise in recent years.
And, according to Solar Energy International’s Web site, http://www.solarenergy.org, using a one-kilowatt PV system each month:
Prevents 150 pounds of coal from being mined,
Prevents 300 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere,
Keeps 105 gallons of water from being consumed,
And keeps nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide from being released into the environment.

If you’re going
What: S.C. Solar Council meeting
When: 2 p.m. Friday
Where: Lynches River County Park Environmental Discovery Center, 1110 Ben Gause Road, Coward
On the Web: S.C. Solar Council, http://www.scsolarcouncil.org