Clark Public Utilities Operations Center

The 11.65-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system installation at the Clark Public Utilities District Operations Center directly supports the electricity needs of the facility. By partnering with the Solar 4R Schools™ program, Clark PUD connected the real-time performance data from their PV systems to the Energy Exploration Center at Solar4RSchools.org to served as an interactive educational tool for classrooms nationwide. At the time of the project, a touchscreen kiosk located within the building allowed students, faculty, staff and visitors to view real-time system performance data from the array and the attached weather station while learning key facts about the science and benefits of renewable energy. Students and educators can learn more about the science of renewable energy production by comparing and contrasting key aspects of the system design with hundreds of others in the program, as well as the affect of factors like weather, system size and sun exposure.

The array consists of a 9.38-kilowatt roof-mounted system and two 1.1-kilowatt "sunburst" PV panels, mounted on stanchions. The sunburst PV panels are square Sharp 140- and triangular 70-watt modules. The inverter is an SMA Sunny Boy 2500 manufactured in Germany.