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Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture

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Solar Power Project

BBCRC has been running on solar power since December, 2016. We normally generate 100% of the electrical power consumed at our site! We were already on the grid so it made economic and logistical sense to install a grid-tied system which allows us to use the grid to “bank” the power we generate without having to depend on a battery storage system. Running on solar has saved us thousands of dollars and by 2025 had covered the $20,000+ cost of the initial installation plus some repairs along the way.

The success of this project was due to the generous contributions of BBCRC supporters, lots of volunteer help and some important local resources including local electrician Jeff Dickens, solar technician Schwa Rice and the Wholesale Solar company which was formerly based in Mt Shasta and gave us a great deal, as a local non-profit, on our initial installation. Thanks to everyone who helped out!

We got started by clearing a site out behind our boxcars and then surveying and laying out the locations for the racking system supports.
Using Ben Homer’s masterful Bobcat skills, we used an auger bit to dig the holes for the steel pipes supporting our racking system.
After pouring concrete and installing the supports, several staff from Wholesale Solar came over to the BBCRC and volunteered their time helping us to set up our racking system and install all thirty solar panels. Jeff Dickens and a number of BBCRC folks (and dogs) were also on hand.
In late September we had a crew from Wholesale Solar, along with several BBCRC friends, come out and mount up all 30 of our solar panels.