Olympics '96 Goes Solar!

The US Department of Energy (DOE) entered an Olympic team of their own in Atlanta this summer, along with other public and private organizations -- Team Energy. The coalition took advantage of the world audience to showcase renewable technologies currently available for commercial and residential use. The Olympics, with millions of people around the world attending and watching on television, offer a unique opportunity to increase visibility and gain greater market credibility for renewables.

The new Southface Energy and Environmental Resource Center provides a permanent facility to familiarize Atlantans and others with energy savings and renewable energy technologies and strategies. The facility features a roof made up, in part, of flexible PV shingles that protect the roof while producing up to 2 kW of peak electricity. Other featured technologies include:

Photovoltaics (PV) -- 2,856 PV modules are installed on the roof of the main swimming facility, the Natatorium, which is the largest building-integrated photovoltaic system in the world. The modules provide 340 kW of peak electrical power. Another project provides 62 PV-powered double-bulb lights for the parking lot in the new Martin Luther King Center in downtown Atlanta.
Solar Thermal -- A solar thermal pool water conditioning system is also part of the Natatorium. 274 solar collectors are installed on the roof to heat, and when necessary, cool the pool water within the narrow temperature range required for the Games.
Solar Thermal Dish/Stirling Units -- A solar thermal dish/Stirling unit, rated at 7kW, provides electricity to the local grid.
Fuel Cell Vehicle -- A fuel cell-powered electric vehicle shuttles visitors around the Science Museum property in Atlanta. The fuel cell operates on hydrogen, which is produced by electrolyzing water using electricity generated from photovoltaic shingles located on the new Southface Energy and Environmental Resource Center.
Geothermal Heat Pump -- The Southface Center and a newly-renovated building on the Georgia Tech campus uses a geothermal heat pump heating/cooling and water heating system, utilizing the ground as a heat source or sink.
Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFV) -- More than 300 AFV buses and at least as many AFV light-duty vehicles are being used, which operate on compressed or liquified natural gas, electricity, alcohol or hydrogen.
Cool Communities -- The "cool communities" concept, which involves strategically-planted trees and the use of light-colored building materials and pavements to reduce air temperatures in urban areas, is on display at the Southface Center and in surrounding Atlanta neighborhoods.

Finally, an education and outreach program has been put in place to ensure on-site and worldwide dissemination of information on the availability and benefits of renewable and energy efficiency options. These efforts make the 1996 Summer Games the greenest Olympics ever.

For More Info: Patricia Pickering, Public Information Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy; (202) 586-8166; Energy Clearinghouse; (800) DOE-EREC; Web: www.doe.gov and www.nrel.gov.