The Oct. 21 Mirror article on the solar array installed at Prince Gallitzin raises way more questions than it answers.

The article states that electric costs have dropped $90,000 while the array produced 827.8 MW since it was installed last year.

The article further states that the array has a very short life span of only 20-years. How much did it cost to install?

The article implies it will pay for itself, but I find that highly unlikely considering its 20-year life span. How many toxic batteries are installed to store the electricity when demand is low and there is no sunshine to charge them?

Was a decommissioning cost factored in and how expensive will it be to dispose of the batteries in a mere 20 years? Was the number of days of sunshine factored in before these decisions were made (this is the mountains of west central Pennsylvania we are talking about)?

What happens in the winter when there is a foot of snow and ice on the arrays and they are rendered useless? When the arrays are producing electricity are they putting it back onto the grid and returning a profit? At least they are not quite as unsightly as the windmills that litter the mountaintops of central Pennsylvania.

John Pierce

Cocoa Beach, Fla., formerly of Bellwood