John Wood Community College installs solar panels

By Charity Bell | WGEM

“Solar energy technology is coming to John Wood Community College.

The college has received two grants from the Illinois Green Economy Network to install energy-conserving solar panels.

President Mike Elbe says they were granted around $465,000 from the Illinois Green Economy Network to fund this project at JWCC’s Workforce Development Center and the Agricultural Education Center.

‘It just makes a lot of sense because one is we’re conserving energy and two we’re saving money.’

Mike Elbe | John Wood Community College President

School officials say that it’s not just about saving money, but it’s an opportunity to integrate this technology into the students’ curriculum.

‘Students will be able to see a real commercial and residential type system in operation and be able to see how the installation is done and how the servicing is done and actually see the outcomes of actually adding solar to your network.’

Dave Hetzler | JWCC Interim Dean of Career and Technical Education

Read the entire article at WGEM.