Black Diamond Equipment, an Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Partner, announced collaborative effort with Solar Energy International to install solar panels on its retail store. In an upcoming Photovoltaic Design and Installation Class, SEI students will learn how to determine optimal sites for solar panels, size systems appropriately and specify components to fit electricity needs. The courses final project requires students to install a 2200-watt grid-tied system on Black Diamonds retail store.
Black Diamond CEO Peter Metcalf comments, “Installing solar panels on our retail store is one of several ways we at Black Diamond practice what we preach in terms of preserving mountain, crag and canyon environments.”
Last January, Black Diamond became one of Utahs first major manufacturers to be powered by wind. Its wind power commitment will double every year until 2007, and in one year alone reduced the amount of CO2 emissions released by over 111 tons. Black Diamonds efforts are important in a state where nearly ninety-five percent of power is coal-generated. Coal fire power plants, which account for nearly 40 percent of the nation's mercury pollution, produce hundreds of thousands of tons of CO2 emissions, which contribute to global warming.
Metcalf continues, “As an employee-owned company of climbers and skiers, we want to actively preserve the exceptional powder skiing and ice climbing that defines our backyard, the Wasatch Range. Global Warming is a significant threat to both our livelihoods and our passions.”
According to Ashley Patterson of the Green Building Center, co-sponsor of the workshop, “It's refreshing to see a company that makes its profits by manufacturing gear for people to enjoy outdoors take active responsibility in maintaining the health of the environment. Kudos to Black Diamond for putting their money where their mouth is.”
Solar Energy International is a nonprofit organization that has been providing training programs in renewable energy around the world since 1981. The upcoming Salt Lake City workshop is co-sponsored by the Utah Energy Office, which has a strong renewable energy commitment and hopes to provide training to interested local residents, and the Green Building Center, which offers consultation on natural building materials and renewable energy technologies.
