The project was dedicated on Dec. 15 and is located on a 10-acre site owned by the university. As part of the two-year partnership, researchers from the university’s College of Engineering will study solar forecasting and the effects of solar panel soiling versus performance. Data analysis and performance reporting will occur through an additional partnership between Georgia Power and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) of Palo Alto, Calif.

The panels, located near the State Botanical Gardens, are arranged in three configurations, with one facing south and others facing southwest. Some of the panels will track the sun as it moves overhead, while others will also change compass directions to more closely track the sun, reported . On average, the panels move every couple minutes, and researchers will study the different configurations to see which provides the highest degree of energy efficiency. Ultimately, the new solar project will demonstrate optimal orientation and tracking technology suited for Georgia’s climate and energy demand with project partners studying the performance and reliability of the various fixed and tracking configurations.

"Working in coordination with the Georgia Public Service Commission, and through strong relationships with organizations such as UGA, we have positioned Georgia as a national solar leader," said Paul Bowers, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power, in a statement. "Now more than ever, it’s essential that we continue to invest in the research and development of new technologies to make solar, and all generation sources, as reliable, efficient and cost-effective for our customers as possible."

Georgia Power owns and will operate the facility under a 20-year lease agreement with the university. Energy produced by the facility will flow to the state’s electric grid to serve customers, and the university will receive the renewable energy credits (RECs).

"The complex problems facing our world today, such as the need to expand our sources of energy, require not only interdisciplinary efforts but also multi-institutional efforts that involve higher education, private industry and government," said UGA President Jere W. Morehead in a statement. "The Solar Tracking Demonstration Project is a perfect example of this type of broad collaboration, and the University of Georgia is pleased to be part of this exciting endeavor.”

While the solar tracking research will benefit the state, its location on the university campus will also benefit engineering students who are interested in learning about alternative energy sources. It also fits in with the school’s new experiential learning initiative, which requires undergraduate students to do something significant within their field of study outside the classroom, reported OnlineAthens. The project also ties into the university’s expanding commitment to research enterprises.

The solar tracking facility was installed by Atlanta-based Radiance Solar, which works with institutional, utility and commercial customers.
 

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Construction began on the renovation to the historic academic hall in December 2014. The 1930s-era building served as a training space for approximately 20,000 U.S. Navy cadets during World War II, and was in need of a major renovation. The $8.75 million construction project was going according to plan until one crewmember uncovered part of a human skull while tearing up a parking lot blacktop. Work was halted as the team spent several weeks digging up other sets of bones that were identified as having belonged to 27 different people.

Per state guidelines, the construction crew notified UGA Police and the State Historic Preservation Office immediately as well as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the county coroner, who determined it was not a crime scene and that the decomposed remains were significantly older. The case was then turned over to the State Historic Preservation Office.

Baldwin Hall is adjacent to the south of Old Athens Cemetery, built in 1938, and an expansion was completed in the mid-1940s. University planners believed that when Baldwin Hall was built, all the remains on the site had been removed and transferred to Oconee Hill Cemetery, based on historical records.

University officials, who expected renovations to be completed by September 2016, suspended construction and formally acknowledged the incident in a statement released Dec. 11.

According to state law, the removal of the remains is up to the landowner and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources because it was not a crime scene and an archaeologist determined that the remains were not those of Native Americans, according to the statement. The state archaeologist requested that the remains be removed and re-interred elsewhere since land above the inadvertently discovered gravesites had been disturbed. UGA officials are working with the State Archaeologist’s Office to determine the most appropriate location for reburial.

Based on a visual inspection by Southeastern Archaeological Services Inc., the consultant hired to assist the university with this matter, the remains are believed to be of people of European descent. UGA anthropology students are assisting in the exhumation process.
 

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