Council Office Building Gets Solar Panels

The next time you are in the Council Office Building, take a look at our new rooftop solar panels. The solar energy system is expected to generate more than 53,000 kilowatt hours of energy each year.

The solar panel project at the Council Office Building is part of a larger Montgomery County initiative to generate clean solar energy on-site at County-owned facilities. With 75 percent of the projects completed, the Solar and Advanced Energy Initiative is on track to bring six megawatts of solar power on line this year. That is enough electricity to power more than 600 single-family homes.

The County’s solar projects will reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 870 cars off the road or planting 100,000 trees. In addition, the projects will save the County $11 million in energy costs over the next 20 years.

The Department of General Services deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the fantastic job they have been doing with renewable energy all over the County. Of course, this project seems extra special because it is so close to home for us, but it is really a part of a much larger program of sustainability.

Montgomery County has fully operating solar energy systems at 11 facilities, including the Gaithersburg Library, the Rockville Library, Potomac Community Center, Jane Lawton Recreation Center in Chevy Chase, the Up-County Regional Services Center in Germantown, the Silver Spring Civic Building, Fire Station No. 31 in North Potomac, the Montgomery County Circuit Court South Tower in Rockville, the Shady Grove Transfer Station, the Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control in Darnestown and the Equipment Maintenance and Transit Operations Center.