![](\"http:\/\/www.buffalo.edu\/ubreporter\/2010_08_18\/images\/SolarArray.jpg\")
<\/a>\nCharlotte Hsu writes in the UB Reporter about\n<\/a>\nCharlotte Hsu writes in the UB Reporter about\n\nSite preparation to begin on \u2018Solar Strand\u2019<\/a>:\n\nWorkers will begin mowing, clearing and grading land adjacent to Flint Road next month to make way for \u201cThe Solar Strand,\u201d a 1.1 megawatt solar-energy array designed by internationally renowned landscape architect Walter Hood and funded by a $7.5 million grant from the New York Power Authority.\n\nThe installation, with 5,000 photovoltaic (PV) panels powering more than 700 student apartments at UB, is calculated to reduce carbon emissions by more than 500 metric tons per year. That will bring the university closer to its goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030 under its Climate Action Plan. But the project is more than a means of generating energy.\n<\/blockquote>\nBuffalo is at 42 degrees 53 minutes north,\nabout a thousand miles north of Valdosta at 30 degrees 49 minutes north.\nOn the NREL solar radiation map<\/a>, Buffalo shows significantly\nless solar radiation than Valdosta.\n
\nSo if Buffalo can do it, why can’t Valdosta?\n\n\n
\n\n
<\/a>\nOr if the University at Buffalo (UB) can do it,\nwhy can’t Valdosta State University (VSU)?\n
\nAnd this UB solar array is more than just useful:\n
\nThe array will be a work of public art, creating a visually stunning gateway to the North Campus with panels stretching in three polished rows from north to south between Audubon Parkway and Maple Road east of Flint. Hood\u2019s concept will embed public spaces within the landscape with trails and walkways connecting the installation with wetland gardens featuring ground covers, stands of trees and shrubs that attract birds and other wildlife.\n\nTwo of the tallest panels in Hood\u2019s design will act as roofs shading public gathering spaces in the style of the giant solar pergola on Barcelona\u2019s Forum Esplanade. These tilted panels will rise at a 30-degree angle, with one end 4 feet off the ground and the other stretching to a height of 25 feet. Underneath, guests will have the opportunity to study the panels\u2019 circuitry in \u201csocial rooms\u201d furnished with seating and lighting. University officials expect visitors, including students and local residents, to use the space for classes, tours and casual activities.\n<\/blockquote>\nIs there some reason VSU can’t do that?\nDoesn’t have to be solar classroom roofs; how about\nsolar parking lots?<\/a>\n
\nIn response to complaints about proposed polluting industries such as\na biomass plant<\/a>\nor private prisons, I hear: “We can’t turn down everything!”\n
\nWell, if we actively promoted real clean industry such as solar,\nwe’d get more industry we wouldn’t want to turn down.\n
\n\n
<\/a>\nI also hear “there’s no funding for anything now,” but there is,\nfor solar. There’s even\n\nventure capital seeking installations to fund.<\/a>\n
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