SUNNY-DAY SOLUTION:
Doug Ryen, a student housing facilities coordinator, at right, works with Nick Nicholas of the Grass Valley-based firm Alternative Power Solutions on the installation of new solar panels. The UC Davis Student Housing Cooperatives - including the Davis Student Co-op, Pierce Co-op and Agrarian Effort Co-op - will soon be receiving a portion of their electrical power needs via sun power. The installation of a 4.05-kilowatt photovoltaic generating system is under way near TB-15, the home of Agrarian Effort.
Installation of the solar array began in mid-July and was set to be completed by the end of the month, Ryen said.
The installation will consist of an array of 54 Siemens single crystal solar panels, which are designed to produce some 7,300 kilowatt-hours of electrical power each year - about 60 percent of the average annual usage at the cooperatives. The new solar generating system will be connected to the campus electrical system at TB-15. And when solar power production exceeds the demand in TB-15, the excess will be distributed into the campus electrical grid.
Co-op residents originally proposed the solar panels idea - to promote energy self-sufficiency and the use of more environmentally sustainable energy resources - more than six years ago, Ryen said.
The cooperatives' grid-connected photovoltaic system is the first of its kind on the Davis campus, he said. On a sunny, midsummer day, the solar-power project could provide about 0.013 percent of UC Davis' typical peak electrical demand.
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BIRTH OF A NEW FACILITY:
Prospective parents Randall and Rebecca Weaver look on as William Gilbert, professor and a vice chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the UC Davis Medical Center, conducts an interview with KCRA Channel 3 during the July 8 grand opening of the center's new birthing suites. Weaver is pregnant with twins and is the first mom scheduled to occupy one of the new rooms. Located on the third floor in the Davis Tower, the addition features state-of-the-art technology, home-like surroundings and physicians around the clock. The facility includes 14 suites, two operating rooms, two recovery rooms, a newborn nursery and family lounge. Rocking chairs offer a friendly touch, and wood paneling conceals a host of medical equipment.