Logan to grow `solar trees' on garage

(A rendering of the solar panels to be installed atop Logan Airport's Terminal B garage. The rendering was provided by MassPort.)

The trees atop a revamped Terminal B garage at Logan International Airport won't be the typical leaf and bark variety. The Massachusetts Port Authority is instead installing "solar trees "-- panels mounted on air ventilation units that will harvest sunlight to help power the garage.

The contraptions are part of a $55.7 million project to repair the 35-year-old, five-story garage. The work also includes installing energy efficient lighting and a rainwater irrigation system. The environmentally-friendly upgrades account for about $3.4 million of the total project, but are expected to save Massport in the long run by reducing energy costs.

"We're looking at it as a demonstration project to help promote the advancement of this technology," said Massport chief executive Thomas J. Kinton Jr. "More than that, we're doing it because it's also an alternative mode of power."

Massport said the 16 solar trees, to be installed on the fifth level of the garage, are expected to produce nearly 84,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, or about 2.5 percent of the garage's total energy usage. The energy-efficient LED lighting is estimated to use 49 percent less electricity than the current system. Coupled with other energy efficiency measures, the solar trees and new lighting fixtures will reduce the airport's carbon dioxide output -- or carbon footprint -- by an estimated 1,350 metric tons. That's the equivalent of 154,000 gallons of gas, according to Massport.

Ian Bowles, secretary of the state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said he believes the solar canopy installation will be the first to top a public garage in the state.

The state has set a goal to have 250 megawatts of installed solar capacity by 2017, and 2,000 megawatts of installed wind power capacity by 2020. It will also require utilities to obtain 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

The Logan project, which is being funded by Massport, is expected to take more than three and a half years. The solar panels are scheduled to be installed later this year, while the new lighting will be phased in over the next two years.
(By Erin Ailworth, Globe staff)