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Sept. 22, 2015 - King’s College will continue its efforts to increase the sustainability of its campus and decrease its carbon footprint with the planned installation this fall of 340 solar panels on the roof of the Scandlon Gymnasium annex.  The panels will be purchased, installed, and maintained at no cost to the College through a unique partnership with Wilkes-Barre based Endless Mountain Solar Services, LLC.  The partnership is the first of its kind for both King’s and Endless Mountain Solar.

Once installed, the 340 solar panels will produce an estimated 127,850 kWh of annual energy production and save King’s an estimated 20 percent on the cost of electricity for the Scandlon Gymnasium complex. King’s College will purchase its power through Endless Mountains Solar. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

In 2014, King’s, through a donation from Panzitta Enterprises, Inc., installed more than 200 solar panels on the roof of King’s on the Square, the former Ramada Hotel on Public Square.  The solar panels have produced almost 40,000 kWh since from its installation in late Fall 2014 through the beginning of September.  During the approximately 25-year life of the panels, the College will save an estimated $500,000 on energy costs and reduce the carbon footprint of the building by 2.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

The Scandlon Gymasium, located on N. Main Street in Wilkes-Barre, was updated in the fall of 2012 with the addition of 33,000-square foot expansion.  The annex contains faculty offices, a lab for the athletic training program, and a large multi-purpose floor that includes three NCAA-sized basketball courts with the capability of converting each court into tennis or volleyball courts.  The annex was built to increase recreational opportunities and better serve students participating in the King's intramural programs.  The facility also enables King's 23 Division III varsity sports teams to better handle indoor activities for teams during the non-traditional practice season. 

“As Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical, ‘Laudato Si’, it is the responsibility of all of us to be stewards of the earth,” said Father John Ryan, C.S.C., King’s president.  “We are excited to partner with a local company to continue the efforts outlined by the College in its latest strategic plan to make King’s more sustainable, efficient, and attractive.  This unique partnership with Endless Mountains Solar allows us to complete this project and possible other projects in the future in a much more economically feasible manner.”

“As a life-long resident of the Wyoming Valley, I have always respected King’s College and its mission to provide access to higher education at a reasonable cost,” said Mike Pitcavage owner and chief executive officer with Endless Mountains Solar.  “Collaborating with King’s College is a win-win situation; the College is able to lock in its energy rates for 25 years and Endless Mountains continues to foster a great relationship with an ecologically-minded institution.”