The Courtyard by Marriott-Lancaster , a High Hotels Ltd . property in Lancaster , Pennsylvania , installed what it said was the first solar array in the country for the sole purpose of generating 100 % of the electricity needs of a hotel . The US $ 1.5 million project , announced in July 2018 , called for solar panels to produce over 1.2 million kWh per year , or just over the 1.18 million kWh used by the hotel ’ s 133 rooms .

“ We ’ ve been running at 100 % since a month or two after the

announcement ,” says Russ Urban , president of High Hotels .

Urban , who says he ’ d always wanted to do a 100 % solar-powered hotel , got his chance because the 2,400 solar panels needed could be placed on the top of a nearby warehouse that ’ s part of a 600-acre mixeduse campus owned by High Properties .

“ With solar , the degree to which you can power your building is predicated on the number of solar panels you can put in ,” Urban says . In the summer , the property sells excess generation to the electrical grid ; in darker winter months , it draws from the grid .

At Wynn Resorts , Las Vegas , a 160-acre solar farm will reduce the utility bills for the resort ’ s 2,716 rooms

by 75 %; one of Wynn ’ s goals was to use the energy to power the resort ’ s meeting and conventions space expansion , set to open in March , with 100 % renewable energy .

BEHIND THE NUMBERS Given that heating and cooling represent 35 % of energy use in commercial buildings , anything solar does to offset these expenses is a net benefit . The cost to install solar has dropped by more than 70 % over the past decade in the United States , the third-largest market for photovoltaics installations , the Solar Energy Industries Association says . According to the association , prices as of Q3 2019 are at their lowest levels

The Courtyard by Marriott-Lancaster in Lancaster , Pennsylvania , is 100 % solar-powered : The 2,400 solar panels that make it happen are installed on top of a nearby warehouse .

in history across all market segments ; it expects installations will continue to grow across all market segments in 2020 and 2021 , and that over the next five years , total installed solar capacity will more than double , topping 100 GW by 2021 .

The efficiency of solar technology has improved dramatically since the energy crisis of the 1970s , which saw the first wide-scale interest in solar cells to produce electricity in

homes and businesses ; then , prices were nearly 30 times higher than they are today . In 2017 , more new solar power capacity was created than any other type of energy , according to a report from the United Nations Environment Programme .

Unlike the early solar panels , which declined in efficiency over their lifetime , newer ones are “ almost 100 % as effective in year 20 as they were in year one ,” says High Hotels ’ Urban .

50 hotelsmag . com March 2020