Hartford, VT Examines Solar Panel Installation for Sports Arena

It’s no secret that Vermont, the Green Mountain State, is on the cutting edge of going green, well in this case, greener, especially through solar panels. One local town is now examining the option of installing a large group of solar panels on the roof of a sports arena, but it may not work out any time soon.

The Valley News explains that the town of Hartford has applied for state permission to install a grid of solar panels on the roof of the Wendell A. Barwood Arena, but the building is owned by the school district and would have to go through the School Board first. In July this year, the Vermont Public Service Board received the application from Hartford which sought to install solar panels not just on the sports arena but on various other town buildings including the wastewater treatment plant.

All applications were approved as they did not exceed the allowable cap but the actual structural integrity of the sports arena’s roof is now in question as it may not be strong enough to support an entire array of panels.

The idea of placing the panels on the ground was also broached, but the School Board has yet to make up their mind regarding the installation.