Solar panels to energize Amarillo VA

AMARILLO – The solar panel project at Thomas E. Creek Veterans Affairs Medical Center is scheduled for completion next month despite delays.

Instead of covering 570 parking spaces, as originally planned, the number increased to 721 after extra parking was added, Sam Hagins, energy engineer, said.

The hospital hopes to recoup a large portion of their energy costs from the panels. However, current savings cannot be calculated because all the panels are not online, said Barbara Moore, chief of community and patient relations services.

It could produce about 3.65 million kilowatt-hours, Hagins said. The medical center consumes about 12 million kilowatt-hours a year, according to Hagins.