MOUNT VERNON — A proposal for the possible use of solar collector plate panels at the Knox County Health Department and the New Hope Early Education Center was presented Thursday afternoon by the Knox County Commissioners. Knox County Health Commissioner Julie Miller and Superintendent of Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities Steve Oster were in attendance to hear of the proposal at their facilities on Upper Gilchrist Road.
“This is just a preliminary proposal,” said Commissioner Teresa Bemiller. “We’re at the beginning, and we wanted to bring you in and see what you think.”
The commissioners recently received an outlined plan from Al Berger, representative of the architectural firm Marr Knapp Crawfis Associates of Mansfield. Drawings were submitted mapping out a proposed location for the solar panels to be situated.
Berger reported that the health department currently uses a 55kW load of power, and New Hope uses 120kW of power. The proposed area near the facilities would be large enough to generate a 575kW capacity, but Berger stated the entire square footage would not necessarily be used.
