Mayor Menino is preparing to install 16 solar panels on his Hyde Park rooftop, which is about the size of a bocce court. That’s leading by example. Meanwhile, the roof of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, which is larger than 20 football fields, is barren of solar technology.
State and city officials are busily promoting solar energy as an affordable option for homes and businesses in search of renewable energy solutions. Governor Patrick has set an ambitious statewide goal of 250 megawatts of solar power by 2017, about twice the current level. The Solarize Massachusetts campaign got a big boost last week with the ribbon-cutting for a 2,068-panel solar farm at the Drydock Center in the Seaport District. But it also drew attention to the absence of solar power at the nearby convention center.
Comments
Like Mayor Menino we have solar panels on our home. We had a well situated roof and room for 24 panels. It made sense for us economically and environmentally but it would seem to be even more so at the convention center. We are careful about how we use electricity. We shut off lights and use as little air conditioning as possible. But the convention center does not have those options. If it is in use, it's lights on and AC blasting. Therefore it would seem to be obvious to install it when a technology exists that could be particularly effective in the hottest days of the summer, in the middle of the day, when electricity demand at a facility like the convention center is used to the maximum. Two negatives come to mind. First, would this investment be in a technology that will be obsolete in ten years because of advances in voltaics? Possibly...but there must be some creative way around that. Perhaps an alliance with MIT to use part of it it as a laboratory to test innovations. There might be subsidies for this approach. Secondly, there is the aesthetic objection. Well, to be perfectly frank, the roof is not THAT beautiful. It would not be like surrounding the southerly side of the statehouse dome with a clunky solar array. Perhaps the creative architectural community could be enlisted to start solving this problem right now. The Mayor or someone else could establish a contest with a hefty cash reward to transform the roof with solar arrays. This approach worked in Florence, producing Brunelleschi's Dome, which still provides pleasure seven hundred years later. Now THAT should be a legacy to warm the Italian-American heart of Mayor Menino!
I am tired of people preeching alternative energy and deciding what is best for me.**************************
We bought a GE ( Jeffrey Immelt- Friend of Obama) washer that has a wonderfully large tub and we thought that ment we could do large loads. The machine does not allow enough water for a MEDIUM LOAD. There is no way to ask for more water. My former machine had a button I could hold down and add as much water AS I WANTED. The rinse cycle has even LESS WATER. I hate this machine, I resent people preaching at me about what is best for me. Please let me decide. ***********************************************************************
I would be interested in knowing how the mayor can afford 16 solar panels on his roof. We looked at that and could not afford it. The SMALL upfront charge was $17,000. Sound small to you???????******************
The convention Center probably could not afford it either.
This guy is one overpaid event planner.
...."But the board couldn’t get past the image of workers penetrating a roof with a history of leaks." Wow! If that's the meat of their argument then that Board needs to be "refreshed" immediately. There are so many ways to safely install panels. Consider the time of year (temps & typical weather patterns), booked usage of the center, etc. Roll those parts together and hedge the entire bet with an insurance policy and performance guarantees or Bonds. What am I missing here? Other than a local solar panel manufacturer of course......