City of Norman

PROJECT PURPOSE

Solar Covered parking at City Hall, Police Department, North Base, NIC, and the Lindsey Street yard would prevent future storm damage that negatively affects the City budget when vehicles are damaged. The covered parking will also protect the City?s emergency service vehicles from damage allowing them to be readily available during emergency weather conditions. Not only will it supply protection against inclement weather but with the addition of solar panels to the roof will supply green energy for multiple divisions throughout the City. The addition of the solar panels will save the City of Norman on average 10% on electricity bills at City facilities. The coverage of the vehicles will also cut down the idling time having to defrost/cool down in the extreme elements, which will cut down the time operators will need to wait and will also cut down on tail-pipe emissions improving air quality around the City.

EVIDENCE

Connecticut is one of the states that has started using solar covered ?canopies? or ?carports? and has shown that solar canopies can be a significant component to their energy portfolio and could potentially produce more than one-third of their current electricity consumption. The City of Norman Facilities have many parking areas around the City, which as seen in Connecticut, could become a source of profit for not only the immediate area but the state as a whole.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

The City of Norman community will benefit from the implementation of Solar Covered Parking at City Facilities. The energy saved from the use of solar energy could potentially save the City one-third or more of the normal amount spent for electricity at their multiple facilities. The saving of these funds will benefit the citizens of Norman by allowing those funds to be used elsewhere. The covered parking will also be protecting the City?s essential vehicles from potential inclement weather, which will cut any wait time due to damages, allowing emergency services to use the majority of their vehicles immediately after a severe weather scenario, since they will be protected. The coverings will also prevent the majority of cooling/heating time of vehicles in the elements, which will give a quicker response time for emergency services in the winter and summer months.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

We would be measuring the project performance by the amount of energy each solar panel creates and we would also be able to compare the amount of funds saved in the vehicle maintenance and repair due to weather damage in an annual period. We would collect the data by comparing funds spent during the fiscal year with no solar covered parking to the funds spent during a fiscal year with the solar covered parking.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma