JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - A Joplin hospital that replaced one destroyed in a deadly 2011 tornado has installed 100 solar panels in the shape of a cross.
The panels are located on the roof of the cancer treatment center at Mercy Hospital Joplin, The Joplin Globe (http://bit.ly/1Xrplk3) reported. The hospital, which opened in March, is about three miles from where St. John's Regional Medical Center stood before an EF-F twister hit the building head-one. Among the 161 people killed in the storm were a St. John's visitor and five patients.
The panels are designed to take advantage of a one-time solar rebate offer from the Joplin-based Empire District Electric Co.
Doug Neidigh, who is in charge of energy and sustainability for Mercy, said each panel produces 255 watts of electricity for a total of 25,500 watts. Mercy estimates the total annual savings at $4,000.
The system should have a 25-year life, meaning Mercy has the potential to save $100,000 in energy costs, based on existing rates. The rebate from Empire at $1 per watt provided a $25,000 incentive for Mercy, the maximum allowable rebate. After Dec. 31, the rebate will decrease to 50 cents per watt.
"Visitors to the hospital can look out their windows on the upper floors and see it," Neidigh said, adding that the solar project is the first significant one the Mercy system has undertaken. "By putting it in the shape of a cross for Mercy, we also are trying to help with the awareness of solar energy at the same time."
Empire had received 170 rebate applications as of last week, according to Shawn Pingleton, who is in charge of the solar rebate program for Empire.
Empire began offering the rebates in mid-May after the Missouri Supreme Court said in a 5-2 ruling that the company was not entitled to a legislative exemption from the Missouri Clean Air Act that Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved in 2008.