ARDEN - Bill Fronczek was in a reflective mood Saturday outside the new electrical substation at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, recalling a time when trolley cars had to be moved by hand.

As a teen, Fronczek volunteered at the museum. It wasn't until the 1960s that there was electrical service at the museum.

"We've come a long way since then," said Fronczek - now president of the organization - as solar-powered streetcar and electrical trolley substation projects were dedicated in front of several elected officials and corporate sponsors.

Not only does this mark the first time in the United States that electric transit vehicles are partially powered by the sun, but Ed Johnson of Penn State Cooperative Extension also said the number of solar panels appears to make it one of the largest solar energy projects in the state.

Today, the museum has enough power to operate five trolleys at a time as opposed to a few years ago when running just one car could trip a breaker, Fronczek explained.

The dedication was held at the trolley display building, where many of the museum's 52 trolley cars are restored. Even the microphone and speaker system were powered by solar panels for the brief ceremony.

The solar project was about five years in the making, explained Scott Davis, a PTM volunteer. The museum was awarded a $271,391 Energy Harvest grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection. More than $34,850 in-kind donations also were received from about 60 corporations and businesses. An electrical substation received more than $200,000 in funding from several foundations.

The project involved installation of 198 solar panels on the south-facing metal roof of the display building. The panels were built by Solar Power Industries in Belle Vernon, prompting museum executive director Scott Becker to note, "This is a homegrown product we are using today."

He added that solar power production will be another educational tool for the many schoolchildren who visit museum.

The museum expects to save more than $5,300 in electricity costs the first year.

Here comes the sun

The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum has unveiled a solar-powered trolley system, the first electric transit line in the country powered by the sun.

"It's an exciting project," museum Executive Director Scott Becker said. "We're celebrating the completion of the Solar-Powered Streetcar and Trolley Substation project."

The museum's new 36-kilowatt photovoltaic solar energy system will help operate the two-mile railway track that takes visitors on daily trolley tours, as well as display its collection of 52 vintage electric railway vehicles.

"We've gotten a grant for installing solar panels to produce some of our own electricity," Visitors Services Coordinator Lisa Stout-Bashioum said. "We're really proud of that."

The grant from the state Department of Energy is part of the Energy Harvest program, which gave out $7.2 million in 2009 to fund projects across the state.

The museum received $271,391 to install the system, with additional donations of $28,000 from members of the trolley museum and Solar Power Industries of Belle Vernon completing funding for the project.

According to the state, the new energy system is expected to produce 44,150 kilowatt hours of electricity annually and conserve approximately 214,200 gallons of water. Becker projects that the solar panels will save $5,300 in power costs in 2010. T

The system, which consists of 198 photovoltaic panels, was built locally at Solar Power Industries Belle Vernon facility and installed with the assistance of museum volunteers by S.E. Schultz Electric of Washington on the south-facing roof of the museum.

"We get support from a wide spectrum of the community," Becker said. "We're a community project with a capital 'C.'"

According to Becker, the museum expects to "capture the public's imagination" by using modern solar photovoltaic technology to power early 20th century streetcars. It will allow the museum to transfer its energy savings into more educational events and programming for the community.

"When the museum started (in 1953), it didn't have two nickels to rub together," Becker said. "We try to stretch the dollars out. We're rolling up our sleeves and putting a lot of sweat equity into them."

"It's just amazing," museum President Bill Fronzcek said. He sees the use of solar power as a natural extension of the history of the electrical streetcar system and electricity itself. "West Penn Power Company started out with streetcars. It's the history of electricity."

The solar energy system has its own exhibit describing how it works. In addition, an ongoing program called Green Initiative calculates the museum's daily solar energy usage.

A real-time output report that measures the energy being used on an hourly basis can be found on the museum's website.

In conjunction with the new solar panels, a more energy-efficient trolley substation was constructed to provide 600 volts of direct current to power the vintage streetcars.

This AC/DC convertor project received funding from The Renner Foundation, PNC Financial Services Group, Fairbanks-Horix Foundation and the Allegheny Foundation. Individual donations of materials, time and support from suppliers in the electric industry helped complete installation of the new substation.

The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum’s Scott Becker recently announced an innovation in energy sources, mixing very old and very new. The museum is going all solar, making their working exhibit the first solar-powered trolley line in the world. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Energy Harvest Program funded just over a quarter of a million dollars, which will pay for an installed 36 KW photovoltaic (solar panel) system. The system will generate the electricity by which they run their vintage streetcar vehicles.

Guests learn by experience, enjoying a four-mile long ride on these perfectly restored streetcars. The scenery along the way is pleasant. With the new power source, the exhibit will be both a step back and forward in time. This exhibit proves that we can provide transportation without pollution.

Becker says he’s conveyed the concept to the Pittsburgh Port Authority, who will now consider using this as an example. Hopefully they’ll be designing their own solar system to power the city’s light rail system soon.

Solar Power Industries of Belle Vernon, a local company, is doing the system design and installation. The project will give the museum its own substation. It’s may not seem like all that much of an immediate savings, only $5000 a year. But when the museum reopens for the season on April 3rd, 2009, it will be running entirely on its own power, generated entirely by solar panels. This makes the trolley autonomous and entirely Green, and that’s worth a fortune!

I can also add that my wife and I have a motor-home with four solar panels installed by the previous owner. We have camped for a number of days without a "shore power" connection or running the generator.