A large-scale green energy project is getting underway at King County’s Vashon Recycling and Transfer Station. Starting on Tuesday, April 26, King County began to install solar panels as part of a large-scale solar array at the transfer station site to offset electrical use at the facility.

The system is expected to generate 172,000 kilowatt hours per year. Combined with energy efficiency efforts, including new roadway lights, a new heating system in the scale house and a new auto-shutdown feature for the giant trash compactor, the solar array is anticipated to generate as much electricity as is used by the station each year, making the station “net zero energy.”

This installation was funded with significant support from a grant received from the State of Washington; the system has a roughly 17-year payback, and the panels are expected to generate electricity for 25 years.