The Mitchell is going green !!  Over the next few weeks you will notice a lot of activity on the roof at 101 South Main Street in Fuquay-Varina.  Tomorrow Baker Roofing starts tearing off over 60 years of built-up roof-nearly 3″ of accumulated layers. Then on about March 23, they will begin adding a 10kW photovoltaic system on the southern side of the roof. This system will consist of about 72 flexible solar panels each 1/4″ thick and 18″x8 ft in dimension. This system will collect 1500 kW of energy from the sun each month and put it back  into the Progress Energy electricity grid. This type of system is called a net-grid system.  Some facts about solar energy:

• It takes only about 8 minutes for solar energy to travel from the sun to the earth.
• The amount of solar radiation striking the earth every 72 hours is equal to all of the energy stored in the planet’s coal, oil and natural gas reserves combined.
• Solar is the only renewable energy source that does not consume or pollute water.
• Solar energy is measured in kilowatt-hours. 1 killowat = 1000 watts.  1 kilowatt hour (kWh) = the amount of electricity required to burn a 100 watt light bulb for 10 hours.
• A 10 kW solar system could offset the emissions of more than 210 tons of dangerous pollutants such as Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Sulfur Dioxide annually. The reduced CO2 from this system is equal to:
• Emmissions from 21,624 gallons of gas consumed.
• Carbon sequestered by 4,885 tree seedlings grown over ten years.
• Carbon sequestered annually by 43.3 acres of pine or fir forest.