Down Came the Solar Panel

The strange triangular shaped building behind the library is gone.  Demolition of the building began on Wednesday.  That building held a large panel of solar collectors.  The solar panels were no longer usable and the building was falling down.      

In January 2010, a feasibility study for a fire suppression system in the library identified the solar panel building as a major fire hazard.   The library’s Trustees decided to have the building taken down because it was considered a potential fire hazard.

 The building and solar collectors were part of the heating system that was installed when the library opened in 1980.  The purchase and installation of the panel were funded with a grant from the state of New Jersey.  The impetus for the grant was the gasoline shortage and energy crisis of the late 1970s.  The grant was initiated to demonstrate innovative ways to heat buildings.

Unlike the solar technology that many people are familiar with today, the technology used in the library was intended to heat the library.  The solar panels were used to heat a bed of rocks in the bottom of the building. Air from inside the library was re-circulated over the heated rocks and used to heat the library.  During warm weather a set of dampers redirected the air flow to an air conditioner.

The solar heating system only worked for a short period of time; by the time I came to the library in 1996, the system had been disconnected and was replaced with a heat pump that heated and cooled the library.

In hope of restoring the solar system I contacted the manufacturers and installers of the system.  The manufacturer, a Colorado company, had gone out of business by 1996.  The company that installed the system refused to admit that they had installed the system, even though I had signed documentation with their name on it.  I even went a step further and contacted solar energy consultants who told me that there was little that could be done to save the system.  They said most attempts to use such a system had failed and that solar energy was more effectively used to generate electricity and heat water.

The library was designed to be “green" 30 years before the word “green” became synonymous with being environmentally conscious. The utilization of solar energy to heat the library was just one element in the environmental design of the library.   The library’s windows were intentionally placed at two different heights and made to be openable.

During the summer when the library needed to be cooled the windows would be opened and an automatic downdraft would be created that would cool the building.  Large earthen berms were also built in front of the building to facilitate the flow of air through the building during the summer when the windows were open.

Even though the solar heating system was a failed experiment and the berms were removed to improve the exterior appearance of the library, the library’s Trustees are dedicated to the concept of  a green library. When the library was redesigned last year, many of the materials that were used were “green” materials and much of the furniture was re-conditioned.