Solar bathroom

The bathroom behind #13 green was designed as solar powered facility. The solar panels provided power for the needs of the bathroom as well as storing any excess power in batteries on site. However, the process never ran smoothly and could not be counted on to produce enough power or to store enough in the batteries when needed. So this spring we upgraded the system, installed additional panels, and made sure the entire system was up to date.

In years past the only solar panels were on the roof of the building. Those panels worked correctly but did not always adequately supply power for the needs of the bathroom. The draw of power was more than the existing panels could cover most of the time, and was never enough for the uses inside the building and to charge the batteries. This left nothing working properly or for any consistent amount of time. We had an assessment of the system and discovered we were only making half of the necessary power for the load inside and battery charging.

We added more panels on a ground mount outside the building to add the additional power. Now the system operates at full capacity and provides excess power to charge the batteries. We are also able to monitor the electrical status of the facility online now, which is a major upgrade from before. Lastly, we will be adding a backup generator for the extreme situations in the winter when we have extended cloud cover and several day stretch of temperatures well below freezing.

Also, although the new ground mount is necessary, it is not the most attractive structure. While we can’t hide it completely because sunlight must reach it, we are going to border it with some shrubs in the coming weeks. This will at least soften the appearance and make it blend in better.

With a fully functioning power system, the bathroom will now live up to its full potential as a stand-alone facility.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please don’t take any type of full swing on a putting green. Damage from spikes or divots may occur.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org