Sunmaxx Solar Partners With Nys Prison System On Project Sunshine To Capture Benefits Of Solar Power

Feb. 12, 2010 - PRLog -- The first SunMaxx Solar thermal installation of “Project Sunshine,” a pilot demonstration of solar technology jointly developed by the New York State Office of General Services, the Department of Correctional Services, and the New York Power Authority, was recently commissioned at Wallkill Correctional Facility.  If successful at the Hudson Valley based site, the project has the potential to grow into a statewide application.

SunMaxx Solar is an Ithaca based company focusing on delivering the highest-quality, best-performing products in the solar thermal industry at cost effective prices. SunMaxx manufactures and distributes a number of the world's best-selling and best-performing solar thermal products including SunMaxx Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors and SunMaxx Flat Plate Solar Collectors.

The project, located at the Wallkill Correctional Facility (Ulster County) seeks to harness the power of the sun to meet the hot water needs of the 608-bed, medium security men’s prison.  The system includes 1440 evacuated tubes in 3 pods of 16 collectors arranged in 3 rows of 4 collectors. The system does not contain storage, an innovative design strategy that was implemented given the load profile of the facility. A glycol/water solution is circulated through the durable, closed-loop system, and is capable of preheating vast volumes of water used for showers, laundry, and kitchen facilities.  

On the day the system was commissioned, it performed exactly how it was designed. Even with frost on the tubes on an early January day, the system yielded 134 deg F. The1440 tubes produced 297,000 BTU’s per hour (210 per tube) dumped directly into the Domestic hot water supply raising the variable domestic flow by 30 degrees. The project is expected to reduce the facility’s current oil consumption by 160,000 gallons, and requires minimal annual maintenance. This is the largest evacuated tube system for any prison in the USA.

Commissioner Egan said:  “Project Sunshine is a break-through because it combines the state’s ability to design, construct, and replicate the use of sustainable technology in state facilities… If successful at correction facilities, Project Sunshine could be easily replicated on college campuses, hospitals, and at other state facilities.” The department of Corrections hopes to replicate the Wallkill project at all of the facilities in NYS saving taxpayer money and making drastic reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Technicians from SunMaxx Solar aided in the design of the system.  The project being was funded in part by a $250,000 Renewable Energy Program grant from the New York Power Authority.

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