Sunny side up for American Legion Post
With sunlight glistening on 8,000 square feet of newly installed photovoltaic panels, Ron Davis beamed Wednesday when he talked about American Legion Post No. 8 being the first post in the nation to convert entirely to solar power.
"It beats having to pay 13 grand ($13,000) per year in a power bill," Davis, the post commander, said as he walked toward the fenced off area that encloses the pair of panel arrays next to the post off Veterans Memorial Drive. The post will save $130,000 in 10 years, he said.
When the panels produced the first kilowatts of power Wednesday, Post No. 8 not only became the first American Legion post to go solely solar, but it also became the first operational, ground-mounted solar power system in the city of Las Vegas, not counting the large solar array that went on line a few years ago at Nellis Air Force Base outside the city.
Davis was especially happy that the post put up just $1 to start the project. The rest of the $383,000 was paid for by two Las Vegas Valley companies, Solar Universe and Jersey Electric, who will get reimbursed by NV Energy through a grant arrangement.
The 87.5 kilowatt-hour system will generate about twice as much power as what’s needed for the meeting hall, offices, bar and cooler inside the 7,400-square-foot post.
That means the post will be selling power back to NV Energy to the tune of 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. Though that doesn’t sound like much, Davis said it’s better than paying $1,650 per month for an average power bill during the summer.
"That will all go away and we’ll start getting checks from NV Energy," Davis said.
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.