Empire actively supports efforts for solar power used to educate and improve learning environment for students.
The Green Schoolhouse Series
The Green Schoolhouse Series is an initiative by leading partner, Brighten a Life, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, in which schoolhouses are gifted to disadvantaged public schools. As a building partner, we provided its products for a LEED®-Platinum designed Green Schoolhouse constructed at Roadrunner Elementary School in Phoenix, AZ.The Safari-themed Green Schoolhouse replaces the need for outdated portable classrooms and provides a center for after-school programs and community use.
The Green Schoolhouses are built through a collaboration of building-product partners, national and local corporations, school districts and volunteers. The Phoenix Safari Schoolhouse is the first in a series of schools to be built across America. As a partner with The Green Schoolhouse Series, Empire Renewable Energy joins a list of prestigious, nationally recognized organizations that are supporting the group’s mission.
Empire Renewable energy was one of the contributors to the new SAFARI LEARNING CENTER. at the ROADRUNNER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in GLENDALE, AZ. The Green Schoolhouses use donated, top-of-the-line, sustainable products and state-of-the-art technologies like Empire Renewable Energy’s solar rooftop system. according to Marshall G. Zotara, Co-founder and Senior Managing Partner of CAUSE AND EFFECT Evolutions, one of the organizers of the effort, “Not only will the students benefit from learning in a healthier classroom setting, the donations will sustain the building for many years to come.”Rosemont Mine
The Southern Arizona (Pima County) Rosemont mine, which hopes to extract 220 million pounds of copper a year, is testing the use of solar power for some of its operations. And it has chosen Empire Renewable Energy to help with the task. The mine operators have installed five different solar test beds on the mine's property. Initially, most of the power will be used for its administrative operations.
We were among 35 different companies vying for the program, but were awarded one of only four contracts to provide the solar installations. In the end, about 90 kilowatts of power has been installed, which equates to providing the electric needs of up to 30 single family homes. Rosemont copper says it wanted to test the solar power as an alternative to standard fossil fuels as a way to create a more sustainable footprint for its operations. In particular, the group wants to understand the performance of solar power in the challenging terrain and climate that mining posses.
Empire was awarded a $100,000 contract to construct test beds for solar power at the new Rosemont Copper mine in Southern Arizona. Empire's contribution to the project consisted of a 19.7-kW system that uses polycrystalline silicon cells and single-axis tracking to maintain optimum power production.