These 2-kW solar awnings at EPA’s New England Regional Laboratory in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, provide energy for the facility.

To reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with traditional electricity generation and meet federal requirements, EPA has installed renewable energy systems that meet some of its facilities’ energy needs. EPA’s onsite renewable energy installations include:

• A ground source heat pump at the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center in Ada, Oklahoma, which essentially eliminates the facility’s need for natural gas.
• A 100-kilowatt (kW) solar roof at the National Computer Center in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina.
• A 109-kW hosted photovoltaic (PV) array on the roof of the First Environments Early Learning Center in RTP, North Carolina.
• A 55-kW, thin-film solar PV system on the roof of Main Building E, and a 52.5-kW solar PV system on the roof of Main Building B in RTP, North Carolina.
• A 5-kW solar PV array and four 1-kW wind turbines on the roof of the Atlantic Ecology Division (AED) Laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
• Several small-scale PV installations, including solar awnings, parking lot lights and a passive solar wall at several EPA offices and laboratories.
• Solar hot water heating systems at: the Region 2 Laboratory in Edison, New Jersey; the AED Laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island; and the Office of Research and Development Laboratory in Athens, Georgia.

EPA is also planning a 2-megawatt solar PV installation at the Region 2 Laboratory in Edison, New Jersey as part of a power purchase agreement combined with an energy savings performance contract. This installation could supply more than 40 percent of the facility’s electricity needs.