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Greening EPA

Onsite Renewable Energy at EPA

Photo showing solar awnings over a window

These 2-kW solar awnings at EPA’s New England Regional Laboratory in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, provide energy for the facility.

To reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with traditional electricity generation and meet federal requirements, EPA has installed renewable energy systems that meet some of its facilities’ energy needs. EPA’s onsite renewable energy installations include:

  • A 1.5-megawatt solar PV array at the Region 2 Laboratory in Edison, New Jersey, which supplies more than 40 percent of the facility’s electricity needs.
  • A ground source heat pump at the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center in Ada, Oklahoma, which essentially eliminates the facility’s need for natural gas.
  • A 100-kilowatt (kW) solar roof at the National Computer Center in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina.
  • A 109-kW hosted photovoltaic (PV) array on the roof of the First Environments Early Learning Center in RTP, North Carolina.
  • A 55-kW, thin-film solar PV system on the roof of Main Building E, and a 52.5-kW solar PV system on the roof of Main Building B in RTP, North Carolina.
  • A 5-kW solar PV array on the roof of the Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division (ACESD) Laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
  • Several small-scale PV installations, including solar awnings, parking lot lights and a passive solar wall at several EPA offices and laboratories.
  • Solar hot water heating systems at: the Region 2 Laboratory in Edison, New Jersey; the ACESD Laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island; and the Ecosystem Processes Division in Athens, Georgia.