Although you cannot see it from the ground, one biotech facility in Brunswick County has a new green addition to its rooftop.

Wilmington-based Cape Fear Solar Systems recently designed, engineered and constructed a 64.3 kilowatt (kW) rooftop solar electric system consisting of 201 solar panels. The system is expected to generate more than 98,603 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year. 

Used to power refrigeration equipment in areas of the biotech plant including processing, packaging and distribution, the purpose of the installation is to replace a portion of the total power rather than replace an entire connection to the traditional power grid, said Linda Hanykova, Cape Fear Solar Systems’ vice president of operations. 

The grid-tied system was designed to meet hurricane wind code yet remain unobtrusive, appearing invisible from the ground.

There is a wide range of solar panels available in the marketplace, providing an equally wide range of power output. This particular project uses panels from SunPower, which Hanykova described as the most efficient panels currently available, and which were recently used on Solar Impulse, the first solar-powered aircraft to fly around the world.

Solar installations are typically financed with a combination of tax credits and a one-time investment, and the electricity produced allows a company to recoup costs over time, Hanykova said.

“Payback period is around six to seven years, and the panels are warranted for 25 years,” she said. “The panels will continue to produce power long after the system’s costs have been paid back.”

Cape Fear Solar Systems has been operating in the Wilmington area for six years.

“With over 90 residential and commercial solar systems in the greater Wilmington area, our experience ultimately becomes the customer’s advantage.,” said the company’s president John Donoghue. 

The company initially focused on residential systems, but light commercial installations have become a growing part of its business. 

“At times, our customers return to us to install solar systems for their business if they have solar panels on their homes and vice versa,” Donoghue said.

Hanykova said the average installation has an electricity offset – the percentage of electricity provided by the system – of 60 percent. 

“We do have some net-zero systems, which means they pay [close to] nothing. You get a credit if you produce more than you use. Progress Energy was very supportive of solar,” Hanykova said.

She said that if a customer produces more electricity than they use during a month, they could see savings the next month in the form of energy credits rather than cash payments. “When you are a homeowner, you get credited in the future,” she said.

Almost all homes are connected to traditional power lines to ensure they have power even when the sun isn’t shining or when demand exceeds the production of the solar panels.

Hanykova said that going completely “off the grid” would require battery backups.

“We have installed a few of [these] systems, but unless you are in a remote area, it doesn’t make financial sense,” she said.

The batteries can add up to 50 percent to the cost of the system and require additional maintenance. Otherwise, Hanykova said, most solar systems do not require scheduled maintenance. 

“Sometimes you have to hose off the pollen, but in most cases a heavy rain will take care of that,” she said.

CFCC taps into IT needs of area health care firms

Cape Fear Community College is tapping into health care informatics, a growing field combining information technology and health care. 

With an increased focus on electronic medical records in hospitals and doctors’ offices, skilled technicians are in high demand. CFCC recently launched a new associate degree program called Healthcare Business Informatics, set to begin in August. 

The program was developed in conjunction with New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Delaney Radiologists, Coastal Carolinas Health Alliance and others.

“The Healthcare Business Informatics program will equip graduates with the combination of technical skills and health care-focused knowledge that will make them highly sought after by the growing number of medical providers in our area,” said Melissa Watson, chairwoman of CFCC’s business technologies department, which will oversee the new program. “Our students are going to be trained in the clinical understanding of how health care facilities work and the internal processes. We also make them very familiar with medical terms, legal and ethical issues and billing.“

Information technology is driving the need for highly skilled workers who can serve as health care information technicians to help implement, maintain, organize and refine medical information processes, said Joe Norris, chief technology officer at New Hanover Regional.

“We are looking forward to a close relationship with Cape Fear Community College in order to help shape the program,” he said.

Watson said CFCC students in the program will be trained initially on simulators and will use systems that are installed at local health care organizations. After training, students will be able to install those systems, help with upgrades and maintenance, train incoming staff members and serve as data retrieval technicians.

“Based on the feedback we’ve gotten from local health care providers, the demand for employees who are trained in the use of emerging health care information technologies is on the rise,” Watson said. 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted that 37,000 new health care informatics-related jobs would be created between 2010 and 2020, with an average growth of 21 percent compared to the 14 percent average growth rate for all occupations.

“This is definitely an emerging niche. I have spent some time working with the [faculty] at Duke, and we want to be part of the education surge,” Watson said. “We want to identify the needs in their workforce; we want to provide them with trained individuals that can work with their existing systems.”