OQUNQUIT, MAINE—A year after installing one of Maine’s largest solar thermal projects, The Cliff House Resort & Spa reports saving 20,000 gallons of propane, 82 percent more than originally projected. Owner Kathryn Weare anticipated saving 11,000 gallons of propane based on equipment specifications and is pleased with the nearly double first-year results. Located on a cliff abutting the Atlantic Ocean, the resort’s solar panels productivity benefits from the reflective surface of the water.
The installation comprising 2,100 tubes on 70 collectors was initially estimated to provide solar-heated water for the 32 guestrooms in Cliff Spa, the spa building along with the entire spa facility and common area heat. Now the solar collectors heat the spa building as well as the 104 guestrooms and kitchen facilities in the resort’s original Cliffscape building.
The energy created from the solar thermal system is equivalent to that required for generating hot water for about 50 households a year.
Benefits Surpass Initial Goal
“The benefits of The Cliff House’s solar installation surpass the initial goal of providing hot water,” says David Small, COO of Nelson & Small, the New England-wide distributor of Kingspan Solar Thermal products. “Each year 140,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions will be kept out of the air plus the system will reduce maintenance on, and prolong the life of the existing boilers and hot water heaters through substantially-reduced usage of these systems.”
“We are very serious about securing alternative forms of energy,” says owner Kathryn Weare. “We are committed to green technologies and ways to implement sustainable features here at the resort.”
Under Weare’s leadership, The Cliff House Resort & Spa earned the Environmental Leader designation from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Other green initiatives include energy efficient lighting, natural cork flooring in the spa, organic fertilizers and the use of fresh, locally grown and raised ingredients in its cuisine.
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