Message

Dear Dirk

I don’t know about institutions that use solar energy; I have used it for installations and though it’s a nice idea, but not reliable even for low energy needs.

I installed an outdoor piece in January and for the first week-and-a-half we had cloudy weather. After the storage batteries drained, we had to charge them from a wall outlet on a daily basis. When the sun was out we did OK, but during the 2 month run of the show we often had to charge the batteries or even just plug the lights directly into the wall.

There are much better systems than the few years old, smallish panel that we used, and storage battery technology is ascending, but I’m afraid that it will be a while time before solar becomes a viable option for mission critical applications.

Sorry to be a doomsayer, but I am remaining optimistic about renewable energy sources.

Best, Stan

Stan Woodard
Communications Director
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
535 Means Street
Atlanta, GA 30318
404 688 1970 Ext 213
[log in to unmask]
www.thecontemporary.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Dirk Van Tuerenhout [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 10:59 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Solar panels and museums

Dear all,

I would be interested to know if anyone out there knows of museums that use solar panels to help provide them with energy.

Also, would anyone know if such an approach lived up to expectations (in other words, did these panels “pay for themselves?”)

Thanks,

Dirk Van Tuerenhout

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