Solar fiasco at Lane Community College: After a cold snap, half the solar panels in a $400k system need to be replaced

LCC’s solar water heating system damaged

That severe cold snap back in December is more than just a distant bad memory for Lane Community College maintenance crews.

The freezing plunge caused extensive damage to LCC’s new rooftop solar hot water system, which had been used to heat water for three buildings, and the college is still analyzing what went wrong and how to fix it.

Maintenance workers shut the system on Dec. 13 — the day after 23-degree nighttime temperatures — when they saw water running off the roof of the 18-month-old Health and Wellness Building.

Of the system’s 36 panels, 18 were broken and in need of replacement, said David Willis, the college’s director of facilities management.

...The panels are part of a $400,000 solar heating system that includes plumbing and a 2,772-gallon storage tank that holds and distributes the sun-heated water....The hot water system was supposed to knock $5,000 a year off of the campus’ natural gas bill.