It was a great day for Maharishi University of Management, Iowa Integrated Solar, Ideal Energy, the City of Fairfield, and the state of Iowa, as MUM’s new MEG’Array Solar Power Plant went live. The first and largest of its kind in the Midwest, this large solar array stores its own energy and is powered by AI allowing solar panels to follow the direction of the sun thereby generating more power than a fixed array. It will generate a third of the campus energy needs, operate behind the meter, and shave off costly peak demands. This is a big step towards fulfilling the University’s commitment to becoming carbon neutral within the decade. Here’s some regional news coverage.
Matt Kelley of Radio Iowa interviewed MUM President Dr. Hagelin in the morning and aired it at 1pm to over 70 Iowa radio stations: Maharishi University now features state’s largest solar power plant.
Matt Milner, editor of the Ottumwa Courier, had also interviewed Dr. Hagelin, then attended the event and published his article later that day: MEG’Array lights up MUM campus.
TV reporters from KYOU and KTVO attended the day’s activities. Each station broadcasts on two different networks, via cable and digital HD. KYOU runs on Fox 15 and NBC 15.2, while KTVO runs on ABC 3 and CBS 3.2. They interviewed Dr. Hagelin, Tom Factor, Troy and Amy Van Beek, along with Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy and Congressman Dave Loebsack.
Click on the headlines to watch their news reports: KYOU: Maharishi University of Management Solar Array and KTVO: Maharishi University goes green, installs solar energy.
Retired Des Moines Register Iowa columnist Chuck Offenburger tweeted our success: “Wow! Fairfield and Maharishi U, as often happens, are leading the way.”
All reports came out on Friday, Dec 14. The Fairfield Ledger ran our press release as an advance announcement, and sent a photographer to cover the event. Ledger editor Andy Hallman published a front-page report with 4 photos on Monday, Feb 17: University unveils huge solar array. If you can’t see it online, here is a PDF.
The solar power plant is fully operational now and research on it will be forthcoming by spring 2019.
See an earlier article written by Bob Saar for The Hawk Eye: Ideal Energy’s solar-plus storage system for MUM is first large-scale installation of its kind in Iowa.
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