Onetime eyesore now giant solar station

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/business/2522386,CST-NWS-SOLAR22.article

July 22, 2010

BY SANDRA GUY [e-mail]

As Exelon celebrated completion of the nation's largest urban solar-power plant, the next-door neighbors in West Pullman celebrated a new life for a former polluted industrial site.

The plant began operating in December, with all 32,292 panels tested and in service in March, and final site work just completed.

"The solar plant has upgraded this community," said Dannese Flennoy, secretary for the Victory Heights-Maple Park Community Advisory Council, the neighborhood group that worked with politicians and Exelon to see the solar plant to fruition.

The former International Harvester property -- now the solar plant -- had become an eyesore, a health hazard and a dumping ground for other communities' old tires and other debris.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons! That is great!!

[Deep13]

2. Let's say it together a few times: solar power plant.

B-)

[MagickMuffin]

3. This is such Great News ;=}

I just hope this could and should be a goal for every community that is suffering from an eyesore, that are a health hazard and a dumping ground for other communities' old tires and other debris.

Also from the article.

SOLAR FACTS

• Cost: $60 million

• 7 full-time employees of site operator SunPower, a solar company based in San Jose, Calif.

• Site owner: Exelon, the parent company of ComEd.

• 41 acres that had been vacant for more than 30 years.

• 32,292 solar panels can power 1,500 homes with more than 14,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year.

• 7,300 steel piers sourced from Fabricating & Welding Corp., located one mile from the solar plant.

• Displaces 31.2 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions a year, equivalent to taking 2,500 cars off the road.


yes, Yes and YES :thumbsup: :applause: and a :kick: and RRRRRRRec

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. I advocated a long time ago that the Car plants they closed be used

For the new ...... since they already had supply and transportation chains to the plants to make cars
which would use to make the new shit we need be it trains, solar or wind tech.


It got shot down on DU


By the auto crowd.

Good...... I'm glad they are doing something with the closed factories vs building Condos.

kick and nominated.

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. nice story. Hopefully it will bring lots of jobs to neighborhood