The Northwest Solar Center’s devotion to the benefits of using solar power could change life in the Northwest. The center provides information and technical support to the public, businesses, architects and builders.
The center is part of WSU’s Energy Program. Over the past few years it has played a large role in the 100 percent growth rate of solar technology implemented locally, said director Mike Nelson.
“In the first year, 200 homes used solar technology. The next year it was 400, and the next year it was 800,” he said. “With a growth rate like that, it won’t be long until it’s a common practice.”
The center’s headquarters is just north of Seattle. Located in a solar home built by WSU students for the 2005 U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon, the center serves as a demonstration project on zero-energy building. It features heating and air conditioning, refrigeration, hot water, lighting, appliances and communications – completely powered by the sun.
“We are all about assisting the industry in using this technology in ways that drive costs down until ultimately solar power is competitive with coal,” Nelson said. “At the moment we achieve that goal, the whole energy picture will change dramatically.”
Nelson believes that the Pacific Northwest, in conjunction with the Columbia River, has the resources to become the first solar/hydro-based economy in the world.
Until then, the center is continuing to encourage the transition of solar technology from off-grid niche markets to grid-connected.
“Presently, power is generated and then sent long distances. We are trying to make it so that electricity can be generated right where it is needed. This would create a more stable electric system,” Nelson said.
The Northwest Solar Center grew out of the first Northwest Solar Summit 12 years ago. Since then it has expanded into a joint project between WSU and Shoreline Community College (SCC), Washington’s solar industries, utilities and the public. The solar home is located permanently at the SCC campus, where it not only serves as an office, but as a resource center that has become the focus of a zero-energy building program at SCC.
