FRUITLAND, OR — Dirt Buster Car Wash stopped using natural gas to fuel its water-heating needs, and installed eight solar panels in 2011, The Argus Observer reported.
The May 3 story stated that carwash owner LeeRoy Tracy said the solar panels are used year-round for several tasks such as heating the floors during winter. During the non-winter months, the wash relies exclusively on the solar panels, cutting back fuel costs and reducing the wash’s carbon footprint. “Each panel upsets one ton of carbon annually,” Carl Simpson, president of Renewable Energy Northwest, said in the story.
Carwash solar install leads to large solar farm
“As a business man, I’m looking at the bottom line and to offset my energy costs,” Tracy said in the story. “The panels do just that and I’m happy about it.”
Hot water is needed in the soap on the self-serve bays, the automatic car wash soap function and more, Tracy added.
Read the entire story here.
