Tour highlights PA Trolley Museum’s innovative solar project

Media Contacts:

• Wanda Wilson, Western PA Advocate, PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, 412-608-8735, [email protected]

• Rebecca Beckert, Manager of Marketing and Membership, PA Trolley Museum , 724-228-9256, [email protected]

Tour highlights PA Trolley Museum’s innovative solar project

Chartiers Township, PA – Local elected officials and residents joined leaders from the nonprofit environmental group PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center and Pennsylvania Trolley Museum for an informative tour of the museum’s innovative solar project powering the museum’s street cars – the only project of its kind in North America. The tour was held to educate southwestern Pennsylvania residents about the benefits of solar energy and steps they can take to go solar.

PennEnvironment and local residents join the PA Trolley Museum for a tour of their solar arrayPhoto by Rebecca Beckert, PA Trolley Museum | Used by permission

“There’s never been a better time for Pennsylvanians to use the power of the sun to electrify their operations,” said Wanda Wilson, Western Pennsylvania Advocate for PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center. “Plentiful sunlight shines down everyday, and with increasingly frequent storm events and uncertain electricity rates, utilizing solar can be a cost-effective, efficient option for homes and businesses.

In the fall of 2009, Pennsylvania Trolley Museum installed a photovoltaic array on the south-facing roof of the Trolley Display Building. Today, the Swanson Solar Energy System allows the Museum to power and display its collection of vintage streetcars utilizing more than 935 photovoltaic panels. The Swanson System involves the operation of a 280 KW inverter capacity (450,000 kWh annual production) photovoltaic energy. This is the equivalent of energy for 45 homes in a year and powers all of the trolleys and the three buildings on the campus, with spare energy returning to the grid. The system brought the Museum to the forefront of solar powered electric transit transportation. 

Tour of the PA Trolley Museum where attendees learned about the solar project powering the museum’s street cars – the only project of its kind in North AmericaPhoto by Rebecca Beckert, PA Trolley Museum | Used by permission

“An important part of the Trolley Era story is the growth of the electric power industry. We feel that producing electricity from the sun is a natural progression of that story. We hope that our solar array can inspire other nonprofits across Pennsylvania to choose clean energy, and help the state become a solar leader.” said Scott R. Becker, Executive Director and CEO, Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.

The solar array is delivering significant savings to the nonprofit Trolley Museum on their annual electricity bill to the tune of $65,000. This allows funding for public programming and creates a great educational opportunity to teach visitors the importance of solar energy within electricity generation. Other nonprofits that want to follow suit have the added benefit of being able to tap into federal solar energy tax credits that can dramatically lower the price tag for going solar. 

Solar energy is abundant, efficient and increasingly affordable. Going solar increases energy independence and reliability of our electricity grid, and allows organizations to save money on their utility bills which they can then put towards their missions.

Solar panels also increase a community’s energy resilience during extreme weather events, especially since solar panels combined with batteries can be independent from the grid, meaning the lights stay on during power outages.

Right now, Pennsylvania is currently ranked 26th in the nation for solar power.