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Green Mountain Energy® Solar at the Ronald McDonald House
About the Project
About the Green Mountain Energy® Solar Array at Ronald McDonald House
Environmental & Energy Impact
About the Big Texas Sun Club
About the new Ronald McDonald House
- Austin, Texas-based Green Mountain Energy Company, the Austin Energy solar
rebate program, and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin and Central Texas (RMHC-ACT) are teaming up to build the first solar-powered Ronald McDonald House in the United States. - The installation is funded by Green Mountain’s Big Texas Sun Club® and the Austin Energy solar rebate program.
- The solar array is being built at the new Ronald McDonald House located at 1315 Barbara Jordan Blvd in the Mueller redevelopment in Austin, on the campus of the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.
- The solar panels are being installed by Austin-based Janet’s Solar Electric. Installation of the panels began in June 2007.
About the Green Mountain Energy® Solar Array at Ronald McDonald House
- The 10.8 kW Green Mountain Energy Solar at Ronald McDonald House will be installed on the rooftop as an architectural design component of the new Ronald McDonald House.
- The solar array is expected to be completed by Fall 2007 and dedicated in December, along with the completed Ronald McDonald House.
- The solar facility will be built with 54 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and will be nearly 950 square feet. Each solar panel will be about 65 inches wide and 39 inches long. The solar array will power up to 15 rooms in the House.
- There will be an educational kiosk located in the House explaining how the solar array works and how it contributes to the building’s energy efficiency.
Environmental & Energy Impact
- The 10.8 KW solar array will help offset over 30,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution annually. This removes the CO2 equivalent of driving over 33,000 miles — about 85 roundtrips from Austin to Dallas.
- Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.
About the Big Texas Sun Club
- The Big Texas Sun Club is a program in which you can choose to support solar energy installations in Texas with an additional $5 on your monthly Green Mountain Energy electricity bill.
- To date, nine solar projects have been built in Texas due to the Big Texas Sun Club.
- When completed, The RHMC-ACT will be the 10th solar array installed through the Big Texas Sun Club program.
- With this installation Green Mountain’s Big Texas Sun Club will be responsible for creating about 129 kW of new solar energy capacity in Texas since 2002.
- This Ronald McDonald House is the first the solar facility that Green Mountain is building in Austin.
About the new Ronald McDonald House
- In November 2006, construction began on the new Ronald McDonald House at the Mueller redevelopment.
- Austin’s new Ronald McDonald House will be built with 30 rooms to accommodate families with ill or injured children being treated in Austin area hospitals.
- The Ronald McDonald House will be one of two LEED Platinum buildings in Austin and among the first in the Southwestern U.S. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.
