UT progresses with new energy campus

Today a 100 foot wind turbine was installed.

The University of Toledo is making progress on its new energy and innovation campus. Today a 100 foot wind turbine was installed there. When it's complete it will stand at 132 feet blade to tip with a maximum speed of 120 rpm.

School officials say this campus will help put Toledoans back to work by training them for green energy jobs. This is a sign of what's to come at U-Tec, the new University of Toledo Energy Corporation.

University officials say this campus will establish all the work the university has done in the wind and solar energy field. VP Facilities and Construction, Charles Lehnert, says, "Most of the companies that are working out here, are companies that were incubated, came from the University of Toledo so the Scott Park campus is really an accelerator for those companies who were in the incubator."

Xunlight is one of those solar companies with UT roots. Now those roots could help laid off Toledoans branch out into the green energy workforce. "We're doing this so that the data in these machines can go into the classroom. And as you know the University of Toledo has set out to establish an advanced degree in solar and renewable energy," says Lehnert.

After this wind turbine is complete, an Xunlight solar panel system will be installed and a mega watt solar field will be put up on the corner of Hill and Parkside. The first phase of this project will be complete sometime in January. "I don't know if it will ever be totally complete because as technology changes and as things are innovated, this will be the campus where they will be demonstrated," says Lehnert.

Soon renovations will take place inside the Scott Park building. Electric cars, solar panels, and hydrogen fueling stations will be seen all across the U-Tec campus. The university is funding the project through a power purchase agreement. An official ground breaking ceremony will be held there Monday, September 21.

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