Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Ameren Electric and SEMO partner on solar panel project

Sunday, March 20, 2022
Construction Management Senior Brent Werner listens to Ameren’s staff as they prepare to tour the facility. Students were able to see up close how the solar panels work.
Photo by April Styer

SEMO and Ameren Electric Company announced their newest updates on the solar panel project located in the parking lot of the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau on March 10.

Vice president of finance Brad Sheriff said this is a neighborhood solar project. Cape Girardeau is one of the two locations Ameren has chosen to construct the panels. The other location is in St. Louis at a Habitat for Humanity office.

“Ameren is paying for all the costs of the installation, and we are essentially just providing the place,” Sheriff said. “It won’t feed solar energy to the institute per se, but we did end up with about 500 parking spaces that will now be covered.”

The Ameren corporation has visited SEMO’s construction management program throughout the past year to discuss what solar energy is, how it is used and how it could be incorporated into future jobs and projects.

Vice President of Finance Brad Sheriff visits with Provost Mike Godard during Ameren’s Solar Panel Project meeting. Both men met with Ameren’s directors to hear about the progress.
Photo by April Styer

Solar energy produced from the panels will generate power to over 130 homes in the Cape Girardeau area. The panels help produce clean energy in the environment.

Construction management senior Brent Werner said he enjoyed seeing how the process has unfolded.

“We started the first collaboration this past fall, where they showed us the presentation,” Werner said. “We used the same techniques on a smaller scale in the classroom to make it a learning experience.”

Ameren’s director Russ Burger and SEMO’s construction management professor Jeron McMurray involved the construction management students by piloting a unique combination of construction, education and training opportunities for pre-apprentices to gain experience for future employment.

Burger said Ameren chose the Show Me Center for the neighborhood solar project because of its visibility to the public.

“We wanted to showcase Southeast Missouri State University and the SEMO division of construction,” Burger said. “This was a great opportunity to partner up with the university for a great project like the solar panels.”

Department of engineering and technology chairman Brad Deken said the Ameren solar panel project was a great opportunity for training construction management students.

“We’re training them with real-life experiences,” Deken said. “When a company like Ameren comes along and brings a real project for our students, we welcome the benefits it gives us.”

Deken said students visit the solar panel site often to watch the progress. They also have talked with the construction workers about how the project happens from start to finish.

SEMO Construction Management students meet with the Ameren director. Students went on a tour of the Solar Panel Project located in the parking lot of the Show-Me Center.
Photo by April Styer

“The students bring what they learned back to the lab and create their own mini projects,” Deken said. “And it doesn’t end today. There are future visits coming, and we look forward to the continued partnership with Ameren.”

The solar panels are installed, providing canopies over the north and south parking lot of the Show Me Center. Ameren’s construction workers are finishing up connecting each solar panel and will perform a series of tests before powering up the energy grid.

The Ameren Solar Panel Project is expected to be running by July 2022.

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