HOUSTON, July 17, 2002 — The Upper Kirby District Foundation, Green Mountain Energy Co. and Nuon teamed up to generate pollution-free electricity.
The city’s newest solar facility, known as Green Mountain EnergySM Solar at the Upper Kirby District, was dedicated recently. The facility is a commercial scale 43kW solar array and takes up approximately 6000 square feet of the roof making it slightly larger than a professional basketball court.
The array is owned and operated by Nuon Renewable Ventures LLC and is located on top of the Upper Kirby District Foundation building on Richmond Avenue in Houston. Electricity generated from the installation will be delivered to the Texas electric grid thanks to the support of Green Mountain Energy Company’s Big Texas Sun Clubà¢â€ž- members.
“The production of electricity is the No. 1 cause of industrial air pollution in the nation. This new, clean energy facility is a symbol of the growing interest Texans have in pollution-free electricity, since it is a direct result of our Big Texas Sun Club,” said Gillan Taddune, Texas region president for Green Mountain Energy Company.
“Our Big Texas Sun Club customers choose to provide monetary support for solar facilities and education in Texas, and it is their commitment to clean energy that made this project possible.”
In addition to signing up for the company’s 100 percent wind power electricity, Green Mountain Energy electricity customers in Texas can also join the Big Texas Sun Club to help construct, develop and maintain new solar facilities in Texas as well as promote statewide education about solar energy.
Each year, making electricity causes billions of tons of CO2 to be released into the air, which leads to global warming. This array will avoid the production of approximately 45 tons of CO2 annually. This CO2 avoidance is equivalent to not driving a car almost 100,000 miles or driving roundtrip from Dallas to Houston about 200 times. It would take about 6,100 trees one year to remove the same amount of CO2 from the air.
The solar array is on the rooftop of the Upper Kirby District Association building. This building is an important part of the community and is home to such groups as The Upper Kirby District Foundation, The Houston Intown Chamber of Commerce, Crisis Intervention, and Citizen’s Environmental Coalition among others.
The facility will be owned and operated by Nuon, the Netherland’s largest utility and a leader in renewable energy development. Nuon is rapidly making a name for itself in the U.S. as a builder and owner of clean energy facilities. Green Mountain Energy Company and Nuon also recently dedicated a 57kW solar facility in Dallas as well as a solar array near Cleveland.
“As a company dedicated to improving the environment and investing in sustainable energy technologies; Nuon is proud to participate in a project that provides clean energy and educates the public at large,” said Matt Cheney, chief operating officer of Nuon Renewable Ventures USA. “We feel that there is a bright future for projects like these in the State of Texas.”
BP Solar, the world’s largest manufacturers of photovoltaic equipment, was responsible for the design and installation of the solar facility. The array is made up of 440 BP Solar MSX-120 panels with a total of 31,680 individual multicrystalline solar cells.
About Green Mountain Energy Company and The Big Texas Sun Club
Green Mountain EnergySM electricity is a brand of cleaner electricity in the states where Green Mountain Energy Company (https://www.greenmountain.com ) does business. The company provides less- polluting electricity generated from sources including wind, solar, water, geothermal, biomass and cleaner burning natural gas. Nearly half a million people in seven states: California, Connecticut, New Jersey Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas have chosen Green Mountain EnergySM electricity. The Austin, Texas-based company was founded in 1997 with a mission to “change the way power is made.”
Green Mountain Energy customers in Texas can also join the Big Texas Sun Clubà¢â€ž- to help construct, develop and maintain new solar facilities in Texas as well as promote ongoing statewide education about solar energy. Customers can find out more about the Big Texas Sun Club by visiting: https://www.greenmountain.com/sunclub .
About Nuon
Nuon is a prominent, independent, multinational oriented enterprise in the marketing, sales and distribution of energy and water, and related products. Nuon is one of the biggest investors in photovoltaic solar energy in the world, with expenditures in 2002 of greater than 30 million euros (approximately US$27 million).
Nuon has more than 500 solar power plants in the Netherlands with a total capacity of more than five megawatts supplying electricity to its “green energy” customers. In the U.S., Nuon owns and operates PVUSA, located in Davis, California and is developing new solar sites under its partnership with Green Mountain Energy.
About The Upper Kirby District Foundation
The Upper Kirby District Foundation represents a community of residents, businesses and organizations united to preserving and improving the quality of life in the Upper Kirby District.
About BP Solar
BP Solar is a solar electric company with over 44 years of collective experience in the manufacture and marketing of photovoltaic (solar electric) products and systems. With nearly 20% of global market share and more than $240 million in revenues, the company operates manufacturing plants in the U.S., Spain, Australia, and India.
A full service company, BP Solar manufactures, designs, markets, and installs a wide range of crystalline silicon and new generation thin film solar electric products that are well suited for residential, commercial, and industrial remote and grid- connected applications. BP Solar has product deployed in over 160 countries.
