Solar panels fit well with rehab of historic Western hotel

The capstone of a rehab project on a historic Lander, Wyoming, building that was originally a swanky hotel was the installation of a photovoltaic array. The technology has integrated seamlessly with the circa 1918 Noble Hotel, which was constructed as part of a plan to make Lander a gateway to Yellowstone National Park. With marble floors, mahogany woodwork, and hot and cold water and electricity in every room, in its day the hotel rivaled fancy big city hotels. (link)

Today, the structure, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is the home of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Earlier this year, the environmentally conscious organization added 108 solar panels to its roof. Completely hidden from view at street level, the panels supply about 30% of the building’s power. (link)

“This clean energy production allows NOLS to take a big leap forward toward our strategic goal of a 30% carbon footprint reduction before 2020,” according to the school’s web site. “This 24.8-kilowatt array, along with the 14.3-kilowatt array on NOLS’s Rocky Mountain building, will help NOLS serve as a model of self-reliance and sustainability.”

Solar panels were partially funded by a grant from the Rocky Mountain Power Blue Sky Energy initiative. When it went online in April, the Noble building’s array was the fourth-largest in Wyoming.

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