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Virginia Living Museum installs 165 solar panels to cut energy costs

Posted at 6:58 PM, Apr 03, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-03 18:58:46-04

Newport News, Va. - Who knew that learning about solar power could be so much fun for kids?

But that's exactly what the team at the Virginia Living Museum is trying to do after installing 165 solar panels on its roof.

Fred Farris, the deputy director at the Museum, says the shiny solar panels will produce enough energy to save the museum more than $5,000 in electricity costs in just the first year.

But while the museum is depending on Mother Nature for those cost cuts, Mother Nature wasn't too kind to the facility last year.

That's when flash floods damaged the building, which cost a lot of money to rebuild.

The solar panels weren't cheap either. In fact, this project was funded by Dominion Virginia Power and Bay Electric Company. It took two months to install.

This is just an example of the power of the sun. When a panel is facing the sun, you can tell the power is instant. There`s a whole lot of it, but when the panel faces away from the sun, there`s some power but not quite as much.

Just steps away from the roof top panels are telescopes where people can also see the sun at work.