The site of one of the world’s most notorious prisons has gone solar: at Alcatraz, the cellhouse building that formerly housed Al Capone, “Machine Gun” Kelly, and the “Birdman,” is now covered with 1,300 solar panels.
Known as “The Rock,” Alcatraz is on a small island in the San Francisco Bay, not connected to city power sources. For more than 75 years, power for the island has come from dirty, polluting diesel fuel. Alcatraz hasn’t been a prison since 1963, but more than 1.4 million visitors a year come to the island, requiring significant amounts of diesel to generate electricity.
The new solar PV array produces 400,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, and reduces CO2 emissions by about 337,000 kg a year. Generator usage has been cut 60 percent. A solar battery system stores power for foggy days. In addition to cutting pollution, the system is also saving money for the National Park Service, which operates the island.
The project was funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It wasn’t easy to implement, because the island is a historic landmark, and the National Park Service had to ensure that the solar panels wouldn’t be too visible. The cellhouse roof was chosen because it can’t be easily seen from the ground, or from the Bay.
The solar panels are just one part of the park’s plan to become more sustainable. Alcatraz is also pioneering the use of hybrid ferries that run on a combination of solar, wind, and diesel power. To help reduce the transport of water to the island, gardens are irrigated with rainwater, and toilets are flushed with saltwater. The park also sorts recycling and compostables from garbage.
Main image credit: Flickr user Shiny Things; secondary image credit: jdnx