Colorado Ski Town's Solar Array Almost Operational

Colorado Ski Town's Solar Array Almost Operational

Wednesday, December 29th 2010 18:39

By GetSolar Staff.

Telluride, Colorado is known as one of the premier ski destinations in the U.S. Small in size, the little town is nestled amid the Rockies in the southwest corner of Colorado. Recently, town officials announced that after more than a year in the making, a solar panel system is almost operational at the regional wastewater treatment plant there.

The photovoltaic system is comprised of 480 solar panels and its engineers expect that it will go online sometime in the next few weeks. The solar panel system is the first large-scale, net-metered, grid-tiered array within the San Miguel Power Associations service area, according to town officials. Don Jones, the owner of Controlled Hydronics Inc., the contractor tasked with the installation, tells the Telluride Watch: "It should be operative in the first week in January."

The $600,000 solar power project was funded in part by a $150,000 grant from the state's Governor's Energy Office. Moreover, the town of Mountain Village, whose wastewater is also treated at the plant, recently contributed $157,000 in financing. Upon completion, the photovoltaic system is expected to produce roughly 205 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually - about 10 percent of the plant's energy use.

Town officials affirm that the solar panel system will save about $14,000 a year in energy costs, helping the town to reach its goal of lowering its 2005 carbon emissions by 20 percent by the year 2020.

Function comes first at new dental office

Function comes first at new dental office

By Penny Stine
Friday, December 17, 2010
GJ Sentinel

From the outside, the new office for Oral Health Partners at 2552 F Road may not look remarkable. It’s a basic box: four walls in a rectangular shape with a roof on top.
But ask Dr. Glen Dean about the building and it becomes obvious that this dental office is the result of 31 years of practice, a lot of thought and asolid partnership between Dean, Blythe Group + Co. and Shaw Construction.
“The interaction with Dr. Dean was fun because of his excitement and enthusiasmabout the project,” said Dave Hall, construction manager with ShawConstruction. “This was personal. He was absolutely hands-on.”
Blythe Group + Co. began working with Dean more than a year before the first signs ofconstruction started.
“Dr. Dean had specific needs related to his practice,” said Mike Archbold with Blythe Group + Co. “He was extensively involved throughout the entire process.”
As apediatric dentist who serves several handicapped clients, Dean wanted the building to be wheelchair accessible. He also wanted the rooms to be private, functional and equipped with the latest technology.
The new building has 9,000 square feet, with 10 examination rooms. One room was designed to be more accommodating to patients in wheelchairs. All rooms have six inch, insulated interior walls.
Acoustic doors separate thechildren’s operatories from the rest of the practice, so if a child is nervousand crying, the sound won’t carry to the waiting room or other examination rooms.
Each examination room has three monitors with separate controls. A patient can watch TV while the dentist is scrutinizing x-rays on the monitor behind the patientchair.
A large, 42-inch monitor on a separate wall can be utilized to showx-rays to parents, display educational materials or simply have interestingpictures designed to put the patient at ease.
All of the examination rooms are interchangeable, although one is slightly wider for wheelchair accommodation. The practice uses a roll-in cart system that insures that the dentist will have the correct equipment for whatever procedure needs to be performed. Every treatment room is also equipped with nitrous oxide, which requires extra ventilation.
A large sterilization room in the middle of the building gives staff plenty of room to work in an environment designed with their safety in mind. Hands free foot controls in the sterilization room and at the sinks in all operatory rooms insure that germs aren’t spread via traditional faucets.
“It’sprobably the most technologically advanced medical building I’m aware of in the valley right now,” Archbold said.
In addition to the high-tech features and amenities designed for patients’ comfort, the building also is designed with sustainability and high building performance in mind.
The building has a geothermal heat exchange unit for heating and cooling. The large windows on the south side of the building allow the sun to warm the building in the wintertime, but the wide overhangs will prevent the sun from overheating the building in the summertime. Insulated solar shadescan also block the sunlight when necessary.
The tall, wide hallways are flooded with natural light from the overhead light wells, but the bright red walls keep it from looking like a dentist office. The photovoltaic array on the roof will supply some of the electricity needs in the building.
In the waiting room, adults can enjoy a little peace and quiet on one half while children play in a separate area.
Dean has already hired six additional people to work in the office and anticipates two more will be starting soon. When fully staffed, the practice will have six dentists, which also includes one orthodontist.
The project superintendent, Rick Wilson with Shaw Construction, estimates that 15 to 20 different subcontractors worked in the building.
About 10 to 12 people worked at the job site any given day during construction. In today’s uncertain economy, all were happy to be part of the $2 million construction project.
The Oral Health Partners building should function at a high level, keeping the practice compliant with both Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) standards.
It should also meet the needs of patients and staff, providing great dental care in high-tech comfort.
The staff hopes to be in business in their new facility on Monday, Dec. 20.

Ritter praises Rifle for sustainable development projects

Ritter praises Rifle for sustainable development projects
By Dennis Webb
Thursday, December 9, 2010

RIFLE — Seemingly everywhere you turn these days in the Rifle area, solar projects are popping up in quantities that rival the natural gas drilling rigs dotting the horizons.

This city at the center of Garfield County’s natural gas fields and the region’s come-and-go oil shale industry has been pushing hard to promote itself as an alternative-energy hub as well. It also has been focusing on further diversifying its economy by pursuing sustainable development projects downtown.

The accomplishments to date of the city — and more broadly the clean-energy undertakings of communities through Garfield County — were celebrated Thursday at an event headlined by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, who initiated programs that helped make them possible.

Local officials praised the role Ritter played, but he said places such as Rifle have themselves to credit for the state’s decision to get involved in their sustainable community initiatives.

“It was because of what was already going on in Rifle,” Ritter said.

In April, Ritter announced Rifle was one of four communities in the state chosen to kick off the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative. It’s aimed at helping communities overcome challenges such as vacant storefronts and aging buildings to achieve long-term downtown stability and prosperity.

Later in the year, the federal government chipped in a total of $1.28 million in funding for the four communities’ projects.

Ritter said he has been impressed by the desire of a city so tied to a traditional, boom-and-bust-oriented extractive-energy industry to want to diversify and create an economy that sustains itself for decades to come.

The city has been moving on several fronts, such as creation of an Energy Innovation Center on a uranium mill tailings reclamation site.

The center is focusing on trying to bridge the gap between conventional and alternative fuels and intends to showcase emerging fuel technologies.

The center is still in its infancy, but a commercial composting facility is in the works, and this year test crops were grown there as part of a project involving Colorado Mountain College and others to evaluate the energy potential of switchgrass and other grasses.

The city has installed 2.3-megawatts’ worth of solar panels at that site and another location in town, paying no money upfront under an agreement in which it committed to long-term purchases of power.

At the time of their completion, the combined panels represented the largest municipal installation in the state, and the second-largest system overall.

Rifle also joined with Garfield County, the county’s other municipalities and other participants in successfully obtaining $1.6 million in funds from Ritter’s New Energy Communities Initiative.

The result has been $700,000 in solar installations across the county along with other alternative-energy, conservation and other projects by the participants.

Ritter on Thursday commemorated the completion of one such solar installation, at the newly completed Rifle Branch Library of the Garfield County Public Library District. That project was expected to provide half the library’s power. Instead, it’s covering more than 100 percent of the building’s needs, meaning its meter is running backwards, library officials are reporting with glee.

TOUR OF DOWNTOWN

Also Thursday, Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert took Ritter on a brief tour of downtown to show some of the projects being undertaken through the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative, under which participating communities benefit from the targeted resources of several state agencies.

The tour included a historic theater being renovated by the city, and a city-owned former lumber store site slated for redevelopment for such possible uses as restaurants and shops. Lambert also proudly showed off the city’s popular Centennial Park, which has LED lighting funded by Ritter’s New Energy Communities Initiative.

Transit-oriented development and a walkable downtown full of attractions are among city leaders’ other visions for Rifle.

Those leaders aren’t discounting the continued importance of traditional energy development to the city’s economy.

But Lambert said the dream of a more diverse energy and economic future for Rifle, initially voiced by a small number of city leaders several years ago, has come to be embraced by the city at large.

“There’s a feeling in the community as well that this is our destiny and this is our future,” he said.

Michael Langhorne, who has volunteered to spearhead the city’s sustainable downtown program, praised Ritter’s efforts to have state agencies “come to the table” with the city in its efforts rather than standing as bureaucratic obstacles.

“This kind of partnership is very vital for rural communities,” he said.

He said it also will be important for the administration of Colorado’s next governor, John Hickenlooper, to keep the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative going.

In an interview, Ritter said he hopes Hickenlooper will continue something along the lines of that initiative and also continue with the clean-energy efforts Ritter shepherded while governor.

“The governor-elect and I talked about Colorado’s potential as a hub for a clean-energy economy. There’s more to do, and I think he’s dedicated to doing that,” Ritter said.

With Ritter’s time as governor drawing to a close, local beneficiaries of his clean-energy initiatives seized the opportunity Thursday to thank him for those initiatives and share some of the results with him.

“We’re helping every sector in the region to save energy,” Glenwood City Council member Shelley Kaup said of the work being done by the Garfield New Energy Communities Initiative, whose board she heads.

Alice Laird, director of Clean Energy Economy for the Region, the nonprofit that administers that initiative, told Ritter, “We cannot describe the enormous positive change it’s made in the region. It’s brought our region together in a very tangible way.”

For Lambert, it has been gratifying to see the accomplishments occurring at the regional level and within Rifle itself.

“It’s all happening, and seemingly it’s like becoming a star overnight. It hasn’t been overnight. It’s been a long process, but we’re reaping the rewards,” he said.

Van Gundys Goes Solar

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO)_Van Gundy's recycles more than 4 million pounds of scrap metal every month and now they'll have the help of the sun to do it.

On Friday, the recycling center cut a giant check in half to demonstrate the more than $10,000 it will save a year with a new 85,000 kilowatt solar plant.

Van Gundy's says it strives to be a clean, safe and efficient recycling facility and not just another 'scrap yard.'

"The system should pay for itself in about three years, so it really, the benefit of it far out ways the expense of installing it" says Dean Van Gundy.

The solar power plant is one of the Western Slopes largest.

Atlasta Solar Center installed it.

Latimer House offsets electricity bill with solar donation

Latimer House offsets electricity bill with solar donation



By Sharon Sullivan
Free Press Staff Writer,

High Noon Solar gave a solar power system last month to Hilltop's Latimer House that will equal a donation of about $375 a year for 30 years — unless electricity rates go up. If that happens the savings will be greater.

The solar donation consists of 16 solar panels mounted to the roof of the Latimer House. The 3.2 kilowatt solar grid tie will offset the nonprofit organization's electricity bill for years to come, said Heidi Ihrke, co-owner of High Noon Solar.

The Latimer House provides shelter and other services to victims of domestic violence.

“This is a substantial donation,” said Karla Kitzman, Latimer House program coordinator. “It will be an ongoing, cost-savings every year.

“Having a donation like this will have a great impact to the longevity of our program.”

High Noon has given solar panels to different nonprofit organizations each year for the past three years.

The Latimer House gift makes the second solar donation by High Noon in 2010. The business gave a system earlier this year to The Western Slope Center for Children, a nonprofit dedicated to providing services to child sexual abuse victims and their families.

Each donation helps to offset the nonprofits' electricity bills by generating a portion of their electricity via the solar panels.

“This year we wanted to focus on the humanities,” Ihrke said. “In the past we've given to the arts (KAFM Community Radio, The Art Center). This year we wanted to focus on people.”


Copyright 2010 Grand Junction Free Press. All rights reserved.

A prescription for better lighting

“Why did you install lighting here in the first place?”

As simple as the question is, that's about how infrequently it is asked, which, is a shame because it's an important question.

The answer to the question is that lighting is for people and, more often than not, it's installed to help people work more effectively. “To help people achieve optimal performance.”

The location of the light source would also be important, in so far as the distribution of light and the direction that beams of light take in reaching the task surface and our reader's eyes. If the lights shine more or less like the high beam headlights of an oncoming car, the reader will have the right amount of light, perhaps, but the nature or quality of that light will not be what's required to permit the fastest possible, error free reading.

Consider the average administrative office worker. The cost of the energy used to provide the electric illumination that person needs to get the job done could be as little as $30 per year, depending on the lighting system being used and the prevailing energy costs. How much is that person paid? Probably $30,000 per year as a minimum, including wages, taxes, and fringe benefits.

If better lighting could help improve that worker's productivity by just 1 percent, the saving would amount to $300, a benefit equivalent to a theoretical 1000 percent energy saving. Or if better lighting could eliminate a glare source that was leading to headaches, neck aches, and eye strain, and thus eliminate one sick day each year, the benefit involved-a savings of about $115, would have a value equivalent to an almost 400 percent lighting energy savings.

Just realize that everywhere that lighting is used, it has a purpose. It almost always is a “people purpose,” meaning that people will be able to perform more effectively-faster, with fewer errors, safer, etc. — with better lighting. Accordingly before you authorize a lighting system change to lower energy consumption and costs, be certain to evaluate how the change will modify the area lighting and as a consequence affect people's performance.

High efficiency lighting, first and foremost, is designed to optimize peoples' performance and thus maximize overall investment on return. In many facilities where lighting is five years old or older, evaluating the need for an energy-motivated upgrade also gives administration the ability to evaluate the potential impact of high-benefit lighting.

In parking lots better lighting can help prevent auto/auto and auto/pedestrian accidents. More effective lighting can also reduce the incidents of vandalism, auto break-ins and assaults among other crimes facilitated by darkness.

Particularly when it comes to outdoor applications, lighting can sometimes permit reductions in security patrols without compromising safety. At some facilities the value of a ten percent security patrol reduction could be two to three times that of the cost of the lighting used to achieve it.

Talk about the concept that lighting is for people! In fact, when an electric illumination system is designed well, it can actually help you better achieve your mission, while lowering the amount of money spent on energy, on people, on insurance, on paperwork, ect.

When considering energy conservation always consider the task at hand and is there a more employee productive product or retrofit available.

Grand Junction Free Press, Matt Thesing is the owner of One Souce Lighting located in Grand Junction.

Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado holds stakeholder's meeting

Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado holds stakeholder's meeting

Allie Gardner

Tuesday afternoon in Denver was a fitting day for the first stakeholder’s meeting of the Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado, a perfect example of the many reasons Colorado is a prime state for solar thermal technology. Plenty of abundant sunshine and warm days, not to mention cool nights and cold groundwater temperatures, make Colorado the American epicenter for solar thermal technology.

Why then has the state largely ignored solar thermal’s potential?

That’s the question and motivation behind the formation of the Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado (STAC), a strategic alliance committed to advancing solar thermal technology in Colorado. STAC was initiated by the executive directors of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) and Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES) and will be composed of leaders in the solar industry, innovators, utility representatives, agricultural organizations, energy professionals, economic development committees, environmental coalitions, and other key stakeholders.

“We’re addressing something historic here and something that has the power to truly change Colorado,” said Neal Lurie, executive director of Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association. “There is a tremendous opportunity here both environmentally and economically. We’re seeing an acceleration in clean energy across the country but we haven’t yet seen Colorado keeping pace on the solar thermal side of things.”

During the meeting, Laurent Meillon, president of Capitol Solar Energy, gave a presentation on the benefits, opportunities, and challenges associated with solar thermal technology in Colorado.

“I have been in business for over twenty years, and I have never seen an opportunity like the potential for solar thermal in Colorado,” he said. “Solar thermal could address over half of energy needs for homes in addition to providing local labor and manufacturing opportunities. The opportunities far outweigh the challenges.”

The Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado will be creating and implementing a roadmap over the next year that will guide them in their mission to bring solar thermal technology into the spotlight in Colorado. The New York State Solar Thermal Consortium established a similar guide, the New York Solar Thermal Roadmap, which will serve as an example for STAC to follow.

“We want to make Colorado a global leader in solar thermal technology,” said Lurie. “That’s why we’re here today, to start thinking about how we can identify both roadblocks to success and opportunities for growth. We believe this is the foundation, the beginning point of the development of a broad-scale alliance.”

Pictured: Full house heating system with boiler interface. Image courtesy of Capitol Solar Energy

Conference Solar Power Colorado

Solar Power Colorado

Colorado's Largest B2B Solar Event
Embassy Suites Conference Center
Loveland, Colorado | February 9-11, 2011


Welcome to COSEIA's Annual Solar Conference
Colorado's largest business-to-business solar conference and expo keeps getting better. COSEIA's annual solar conference has a new name - Solar Power Colorado - and will provide an exhibit hall that's twice as big and with more industry insights than ever before.

If you're looking to identify new market opportunities, network with industry professionals and grow your business then you need to participate in this event. Solar Power Colorado takes place February 9-11, 2011 in Loveland, Colorado (near Fort Collins).

We Need Clean Energy Now

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The world is moving forward with renewable energy. In every major industrial country, serious financial interests in partnership with governments are putting gigantic solar, wind and biomass projects together to create a new era of clean, pollution-free energy.

The Far East, South America, Japan, Spain and Canada, and so many more countries are developing significant carbon-saving projects, creating new industries and jobs for millions of workers. Sadly the U.S. is lagging far behind, running at the back of the pack. Last year Italy, a country smaller than the state of California, installed more solar power than the U.S.

Why are we behind, stifling opportunity to create tens of thousands of new, long-term, good-paying jobs? Perhaps the toxic political atmosphere we are now engaged in reflects the underlying cause: A persistent denial by segments of the body politic that we have a problem with our environment.

Many, even if they acknowledge a problem, would prefer that private forces alone tackle the issue. Others see a significant role for government to play. In reality, it takes both private and public efforts to advance renewable energy. As it happens, all across the world, dozens of countries are succeeding with public/private partnerships where we are not.

The whole premise of building a renewable energy industry and transforming our economy to meet the rising energy demands of an ever-increasing populated world is that our climate is being destabilized and pollution is on the rise. The observations that global temperatures are rising is connected to another observable condition: Greenhouse gases, which are produced from cars and electricity production for houses and industry, are accumulating at a rapid and unnatural pace in the atmosphere. Too much carbon is the culprit.

Now many dispute these assertions for a variety of reasons. Yet, the vast majority of scientists and people agree that this is happening now and they also agree on the primary cause. Even noted climate change denier, Bjorn Lundburg, wrote a new book recanting his previous assertions on the denial of anthropogenic causation of climate change. The tide of denial is receding; here's why:

Parts of our atmosphere act as a blanket, trapping just enough energy from the sun to keep the surface of the planet at the optimal temperature for life to flourish. Many of these parts, including water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) absorb heat, contributing to the greenhouse effect.

Other synthetic components have been added to the mix, like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and hexafluoride (HFCs). These are not natural, but produced by industry.

The problem is that all of these compounds are increasing rapidly in the atmosphere. This is measurable and quantifiable. For example, historical levels of CO2 over the time where human civilization has flourished, have been measured at around 275 parts per million. Today, the number stands at 390 PPM and is rising 2 PPM each year. Projected levels based on current growth put them at anywhere from 450 PPM to 600 PPM within 25 years. Temperatures will rise in direct correlation with the increase in carbon content as will climate instability and uncertainty.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major component of the carbon cycle. For many thousands of years it has been a stable component of the atmosphere. It is used by plants during photosynthesis to make sugars used in respiration to enable plant growth. Consider carbon in the use of cars and trucks. One gallon of gasoline weighs 6.3 pounds. A carbon atom has an atomic weight of 12 and each oxygen atom it combines with weighs 16 for a total atomic weight of 44. Gasoline is 87% carbon and 13% hydrogen. Calculate the carbon footprint of the burning of one gallon as follows: 44/12 or 3.7 X 5.5 (6.3 Lbs X 87%) = 20 pounds of CO2 for each gallon of gas burned. Now let's see, how many cars are on the planet? Do the math.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is another weak greenhouse gas and pollutant that cars produce. As the number of cars increases, so does the amount of CO produced. CO is a very dangerous gas that comes directly out of the tailpipe of every combustion engine on the planet. It modulates the production of methane in the atmosphere and ozone in the troposphere, impacting global warming and climate change.

How about electricity production? For every 1000 kilowatts of coal-fired electricity consumed, 3.48 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 5.8 pounds of nitrogen oxide is generated creating smog and acid rain, .2 pounds of fine particulate matter aggravating lung and respiratory problems especially in the elderly and children, .12 pounds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in smog and some 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide gas (the greenhouse effect) is spewed into the atmosphere.

The average U.S. residential house consumes around 920 kilowatt hours per month or rounded up to 12,000 KWH per year generating some 25,000 pounds of carbon gas (CO2) emissions each year from coal-fired production. We need clean energy now. Together, let's build a clean, renewable energy economy and keep the jobs here at home.

Visit the Environmental Protection Agency website (the EPA Household Emissions Calculator) to calculate your individual impact on the environment.

----------------------------

Jeff Evans

Simplicity Solar

747 W. White Ave.

Grand Junction, CO 81501

314-2679

simplicitysolar.com

Palisade Boasts First Solar-Powered Pharmacy

Palisade Boasts First Solar-Powered Pharmacy
Source: marketwire.com

Syndicated Solar in collaboration with Palisade Pharmacy successfully installed Western Colorado's first and only solar powered stand-alone pharmacy. The new solar powered pharmacy is proud to tout their 13 kW solar array which is anticipated to offset nearly 50% of their total energy consumption equaling an estimated $2,400
savings per year. Palisade Pharmacy’s initial investment was recaptured within the first 90 days from install made possible by the Xcel Energy solar rebate with the complimented assistance from Federal Grant 1603. Walt Jorgenson, who owns the pharmacy, has lived on the Western Slope since 1978 where he has operated the business. For over 32 years he has played an intricate part in the health and well being of the community. Palisade Pharmacy employs approximately 15 full time employees. Walt is passionate about renewable energy and with the ever-rising energy costs, decided to install the state of the art Photovoltaic system.

Black Hills Freezes Its Solar Rebate in Colorado

In Unexpected Move, Black Hills Freezes Its Solar Rebate in Colorado
Posted by Adam Sewall at getsolar.com Wednesday, October 20th 2010

Black Hills Energy, a Colorado utility company, on Monday announced the suspension of it solar energy rebate program through the end of the year, issuing the following notice on its website:

Black Hills solar rebate suspension noticeThank you for your interest, indeed. Prior to the announcement, Black Hills’ solar rebate program offered homeowners who installed solar panels a rebate of $2.00 per watt — plus a one-time renewable energy credit (REC) payment of $0.50 per watt. The rebate, in other words, helped lower the cost of installing solar energy systems within Black Hills’ service territory.

Colorado solar installers were caught off guard by the news, according to The Chieftian. The timing, moreover, appears to be less than ideal. “It’s discouraging that Black Hills is doing this [suspending the solar rebate] just as the solar-power industry is taking off in the Pueblo area,” Scott Estep, owner of Casa Verde Energy, told the Chieftain.

All is not yet said and done, however. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission must review Black Hills’ decision, which was apparently made in part due to “financial losses” incurred by the utility. Another factor at play is that Black Hills has reached its obligations under state law to get a specified portion of its electricity from solar resources. If state regulators OK the suspension of the rebate program, it may well return in coming years. When it does, however, it will most certainly be reintroduced at a lower level than the $2.00 per watt homeowners (and businesses) enjoyed previously.

As for all you Coloradans who aren’t Black Hills customers are concerned, fear not: as far as we know, Xcel Energy’s Solar Rewards rebate program is still kicking, as is the Governor’s Energy Office’s Recharge Colorado program. If you’re wondering which option is right for you, all you need to know is: if you’re a customer of Xcel Energy, you apply for that rebate when you install solar panels; if you’re NOT an Xcel customer, you’ll want to explore the Recharge Colorado option.

Finally, regardless of whether you live in Colorado — or beyond — the moral of the story is: don’t wait to install a solar home energy system because you don’t know when helpful solar rebate programs in your area might be paused, delayed or axed entirely.

Iberdrola Renewables Announces Solar Power Sale in Colorado

Iberdrola Renewables Announces Solar Power Sale in Colorado


PORTLAND, Ore., Oct 12, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Iberdrola Renewables today announced a power purchase agreement for a solar power facility to be located near Alamosa in southern Colorado. Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), an Xcel Energy company, has agreed to purchase the entire output of a 30 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic project under development in the north end of Alamosa County, Colorado.

Iberdrola Renewables' expertise as one of the nation's leading wind power project developers and operators has prepared the company to develop and deliver a variety of solar technology solutions. The sale, from what is expected to be one of Iberdrola Renewables' first solar projects in the U.S., signals the company's expansion into the solar power business for its utility customers. After being selected in a competitive bid process, the agreement with PSCo marks Iberdrola Renewables' sixth transaction with Xcel Energy companies, representing over 400 MW of clean power.

"We look forward to our partnership with Iberdrola Renewables and to the continued development of solar resources in the San Luis Valley," said Tom Imbler, vice president for Commercial Operations at Xcel Energy. "This part of Colorado has been identified as one of the best locations in all of the U.S. for the securing energy from the sun, and Iberdrola Renewables' investment shows the potential of this region of our state, now and well into the future."

Iberdrola Renewables is developing the San Luis Valley Solar Ranch, and will own and operate the project. It is expected to begin construction later this year, with operation scheduled for the end of 2011. The solar facility is located on 320 acres of former agricultural land near the town of Mosca, which is considered to have one of the best resources in the country for solar power. The project will create employment opportunities and provide revenue for schools, health, fire, and other critical services in Alamosa County.

"It is a unique pleasure to enter into the solar power business, and once again partner with the Xcel Energy family of companies, whose vision for clean energy is helping drive new renewable technologies in many parts of the country," said Martin Mugica, executive vice president for Iberdrola Renewables. "Tapping into limitless, homegrown sources of power is how Iberdrola Renewables will continue to grow, and meet the needs of its customers."

Xcel Energy (XEL 23.70, -0.06, -0.25%) is a major U.S. electricity and natural gas company with regulated operations in eight Western and Midwestern states. Xcel Energy provides a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services to 3.4 million electricity customers and 1.9 million natural gas customers through its regulated operating companies. Company headquarters are located in Minneapolis.

Iberdrola Renewables Inc. is an American company, headquartered in Portland, Ore., with over 850 employees. It is part of the Iberdrola Renovables global group, the world's leading provider of wind power with more than 11,000 MW of renewable energy in operation around the world, and more than 3,800 MW of that wind power located in the U.S., now bringing its expertise into the solar industry. www.iberdrolarenewables.us.

SOURCE: Iberdrola Renewables

Tessera Submits Second Proposal for Colorado Solar Plant

Tessera Submits Second Proposal for Colorado Solar Plant

Posted by GetSolar Staff in Sunday, October 10th 2010

After having its initial proposal for a 200-megawatt (MW) solar facility in Colorado’s San Luis Valley rebuffed on account of noise concerns from neighbors, Houston-based Tessera Solar is trying again. This time, the utility scale solar developer is proposing a 145-MW plant in the same Saguache County region.

The plant would take up over 1,500 acres in the San Luis Valley and use 5,800 sun-capturing dishes to generate power. Power from the plant would likely be sold to one or more local utility companies through long-term power purchasing agreements (PPA’s), but Tessera is far from that step. Saguache County Commissioners will hold a public hearing to debate Tessera’s newest application before voting on whether or not to approve it later this year.

There are several factors working in Tessera’s favor. The new plant would create approximately 40 new clean energy jobs and bring in an additional $1.5 million in tax revenue each year.

Tessera made headlines earlier this week when the U.S. Department of Interior announced the approval of the company’s new solar energy plant in California’s Imperial Valley – one of the first two solar plants in the nation to be built on public land.

Wells Fargo Expands Popular Solar Home Equity Credit Program

Wells Fargo Expands Popular Solar Home Equity Credit Program

GetSolar Staff. Wednesday, October 6th 2010 09:00
Wells Fargo & Company is expanding a promotion which works with California and Colorado solar installers to help give consumers financial incentives to put solar arrays on their homes.

The program is simple - when qualified customers use a home equity loan or a line of credit worth more than $15,000 to finance the installation of a solar energy system, they get up to $1,000 in cash incentives back.

Wells Fargo is working with three Southern California solar installers: Acro Energy, REC Solar and Verengo Solar - as well as a few Colorado solar installers.

"Through everyday actions and being aware of the ways our decisions affect the environment, we can all contribute to environmental protection and regeneration," said Mary Wenzel, director of Wells Fargo Environmental Affairs. "As a community-based financial institution, one of the ways we can help is by offering financial solutions that help our customers save not only time and money, but also protect our environment."

Improving solar financing in order to help consumers afford the up-front, fixed costs of a solar installation is one of the most important ways financial companies can help promote renewable energy.

In the end, such initiatives will go much farther than higher-profile solar installations at corporate headquarters - although those help as well!

SunPower, Financing Firm to Team Up On Colorado’s Largest Solar PV Plant

SunPower, Financing Firm to Team Up On Colorado’s Largest Solar PV Plant

Posted by GetSolar Staff in Thursday, September 30th 2010

Colorado’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) plant to date is slated for construction in Alamosa County and begin, if all goes according to plan, will be producing power by the beginning of 2011.

The Greater Sandhill Solar Project, as it is called, will be built by SunPower Corporation and have a generating capacity of 17 megawatts (MW) — enough to power roughly the equivalent of 6,700 average American homes for a full year. When completed, it could be the second largest solar PV plant in the United States, according to the Valley Courier, local newspaper in Alamosa County. That’s a title the project won’t enjoy for too long, however, as many larger projects are in the works in other states, like California.

The project’s origins go back to 2008, when Xcel Energy requested proposals for a PV plant in Colorado. SunPower’s proposal, apparently, was the most enticing. Then roughly two weeks ago the wheels really started turning. That’s when SunPower representatives held an open informational session with residents of the san Luis Valley to review the details of the plan. A public hearing between SunPower and Alamosa County commissioners is scheduled for mid-November, and construction should begin shortly after that. The plant is predicted to create roughly 50 new clean energy jobs in Colorado.

Another sign of progress came today, when Wilmington Trust announced it will serve as collateral agent for the Greater Sandhill Solar Project, meaning it will be responsible before the receipt, transfer, distribution and investment of funds pertaining to the project.

As noted above, Greater Sandhill may not hold claim to being Colorado’s largest farm for long. Iberdrola Renewables is already planning a PV project within the state that expected to have a 30-MW generating capacity. It will be built in two phases, and though Iberdrola is still seeking permits to build on public lands, it plans to begin construction next summer.

Colorado NREL Industry Growth Forum Looks for a Game-Changer

NREL Industry Growth Forum Looks for
a Game-Changer
Posted By admin On September 28, 2010 @ 2:08 am In ARCHIVES, CLEANTECH, Events, Feature Articles | No Comments

By Joe Verrengia

PowerPoint? Check. Business plan? Check. Elevator speech? Check.

Breath mints, aspirin and antacids? Triple check.

Preparations are nearly complete for the 23rd Industry Growth Forum [1] held in Denver beginning Oct. 19th by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Entrepreneurs at the Growth Forum take the stage under
hot lights to make their best pitches to panels of discerning judges — venture capitalists (VCs), public officials and fund managers — who have seen and heard it all before, often in more promising economic times. All the while, a digital clock reminds them that time is running out.

It sounds a lot like the cleantech version of “America’s Got Talent,” without the sequins and singing. Expect the judging to be just as tough.

“In this economy, the judges will be looking for more innovation, a game-changing technology,” said Lawrence “Marty” Murphy, Forum chairman and NREL’s manager of Enterprise Development.

“There isn’t as much capital available now as in years past, so when VCs make an investment they want to make a bigger investment that could result in large returns,” Murphy said.

HEAVYWEIGHT EVENT FOR CLEAN ENERGY STARTUPS

NREL’s Industry Growth Forum has grown into the largest national venture event focused exclusively on companies developing clean energy products to serve the electricity, buildings, and transportation infrastructures. This year, 200 clean energy entrepreneurs applied. Their products and plans were scored by 135 investors and other experts, and 34 were selected to compete as presenting companies. Since 2003, presenting companies have collectively attracted $3.4 billion in capital.

Among the 34 finalists, this year’s emphasis is energy efficiency, energy management software, thermoelectric, Smart Grid and building technologies. In contrast to previous years, there will be relatively fewer presentations on solar, wind and biofuels.

“A few years ago people were seeing a lot of deals on photovoltaic (PV) technologies,” Murphy said. “So if you have a PV company at the Forum this year, you’d better have a pretty innovative idea.”

Emerging companies will get 10 minutes apiece to make their case.

Then comes the hard part — answering the judges’ questions and absorbing their critiques. The winners will be announced at the concluding luncheon on October 21.

The top prize is the $25,000 Best Venture Award, which includes $10,000 in cash and NREL in-kind services valued at $15,000. Last year’s Best Venture was Ecovative Design [2], which grows and forms biodegradable packing materials.

Two Outstanding Presentation awards, each valued at $15,000 in cash and in-kind services, also will be announced.

DELIBERATE DIALOGUE

A new opportunity in this year’s schedule is a One-on-One Partnering and Pitch Session on October 19, the first day of the forum.

The session provides scheduled, facilitated meetings between investors and entrepreneurs, as well as potential partners and government officials. The One-on-Ones are open to all registered Forum attendees. Innovators and companies that applied to compete as presenting companies receive initial consideration for slots on the investors’ schedules.

[3]

Investors range from small venture capital firms to large corporations such as Honda and Chevron.

“The big companies are looking to invest in a late-stage project as a strategic partner,” Murphy explained.

The forum is part of NREL’s broader strategic efforts to accelerate the commercialization of clean energy innovations and assist entrepreneurs in their search for investment capital and other resources.

Each year the applicants provide the Laboratory with an indication of early cleantech trends which helps officials gauge how they can better serve the entrepreneurial sector [4] and foster new companies based on NREL technology [5].

“We want to grow clean energy talent based on the most innovative ideas and the best business plans,” said NREL Robert Writz, an NREL commercialization project manager who is coordinating events at the Forum. “By the end of the event, we will see strategic partnerships and investments emerging.”

A CRASH COURSE FOR ENTREPRENEURS

NREL launched the Forum in 1995 as a way to facilitate discussion about new technologies by venture capitalists, public officials and clean energy entrepreneurs face-to-face.

Many early-stage clean energy firms were failing because they were unable to make the leap from public sector financing to private sector funding. Young companies needed assistance developing a business pitch and to be schooled in the expectations, requirements, and processes for raising private sector capital, Murphy said.

Similarly, the clean energy investment sector needed realistic information about the emerging technologies, time-to-market, and the associated risk profile.

Instead of following the trend of five minute tête-à-têtes popularized during the dotcom financing boom of the 1990s, Murphy said the Forum deliberately tried to be more about relationship-building and capacity growth.

“There was an information gap between the entrepreneurs and the investors that was a ‘valley of death’ for new products and companies,” Murphy said. “A lot of good technologies were not getting commercialized. The Forum bridged that gap and it continues to do so.”

Even if entrepreneurs are not selected to present at the forum, Murphy says applying to the event and attending the sessions can be a crash course in entrepreneurship and provide extensive networking and partnership opportunities.

The Application Process — For many entrepreneurs it’s the first time they have articulated their goals, business model and elevator pitch to someone other than family and friends. “When they see the remarks of the reviewers, it’s a wake-up call,” Murphy said.

Preparing for the Forum — Each presenters is mentored by an expert to refine the presentation, business case and elevator pitch with an eye towards attracting investment.

The Forum Pitch — The entrepreneurs learn in a few minutes whether judges think they did their due diligence in anticipating what judges — and investors — need to know. “There’s no substitute for this real-time feedback,” Murphy says. “This format allows the clean energy community to clearly hear the concerns and interests of the investment community.”



Article printed from Colorado Energy News: http://coloradoenergynews.com

URL to article: http://coloradoenergynews.com/2010/09/nrel-industry-growth-forum-looks-for-a-game-changer/

URLs in this post:

[1] 23rd Industry Growth Forum: http://cleanenergyforum.com/
[2] Ecovative Design: http://www.ecovativedesign.com/
[3] Image: http://coloradoenergynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/20100922_igf4.jpg
[4] entrepreneurial sector: http://coloradoenergynews.com/technologytransfer/entrepreneurs/entrepreneurs.html
[5] NREL technology: http://coloradoenergynews.com/technologytransfer/

Solar for the Western Slope

As a fast-growing and reliable source of jobs on the Western Slope, the renewable-energy industry should be our focus. Job growth continues in solar design and installation — and these jobs are more sustainable than those that rely on fossil fuels that will not be around forever.

The recent “Rally for Jobs,” sponsored by the oil and gas industry, was nothing more than an effort to avoid regulation. Those jobs are, and have always been, limited.

Most of us want to be energy independent and want jobs that will last for our children and grandchildren. Fossil fuels can’t make that promise. Renewable sources like solar can.

In the solar industry, we are continually learning more and making this resource more efficient and affordable. That means more growth, more jobs and a future that is cleaner and more sustainable. Not even the best public-relations machine can produce that for the oil and gas industry.

HEIDI IHRKE High Noon Solar

Two electric associations adding solar facilities to distribution networks

Two electric associations adding solar facilities to distribution networks

By William Woody
Thursday, September 16, 2010

MONTROSE — Electricity providers in Montrose and Ouray counties are pushing to increase solar infrastructure and provide their customers and members with a renewable energy source harnessed from Colorado’s 300-plus days of sunshine a year.

The Delta-Montrose Electric Association and San Miguel Power Association have plans to build large solar panel arrays within their service areas as public interest for photovoltaic, or solar, systems has grown.

In Montrose, DMEA plans to build a 10-kilowatt array next to its offices with another 10 kw system planned for a separate location.

The program is designed for customers to have access to renewable energy by purchasing panels of the array, said Jim Heneghan, renewable energy engineer with DMEA. Heneghan said this process will allow customers who can’t afford to install a home system to have access to solar energy and help offset monthly consumer expenses. He said the average installation of a home solar system is around $30,000, while the cost for purchasing a solar panel with DMEA would be in the area of $1,000.

“You can purchase just one panel. It’s a good way to spread out those purchases over a period of time,” Heneghan said.

Last month, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter announced DMEA was one of 23 recipients of a New Energy Economic Development, or NEED, grant. DMEA received $60,000 for construction of the array.

Heneghan said construction is planned for December and DMEA members will be able to start investing in the project in January.

In Ouray County, a two-megawatt photovoltaic array will be built near the intersection of U.S. Highway 550 and Ouray County Road 10. The facility will be built by SunEdison, which will sell the power generated by the array to the San Miguel Power Association at a discount.

The project will be built on a 20-acre site leased to SunEdison by Angel Ridge Ranch LLC. The facility is set to be operational by next spring, according to the association.

The project will be reviewed by the Ouray County Planning Commission and the Ridgway Planning Commission at a meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

SunEdison will have an open house from 5:30 to 7:30 this evening at the Ouray County 4-H center, which is a few hundreds yards south of the light on U.S. Highway 550 in Ridgway.

The San Miguel Power Association, according to its website, also is researching the idea of a community-funded solar garden, which would give its customers an option to lease a solar panel or purchase part of the panel’s output. The association’s board of directors will consider the project in the near future.

If interest grows and purchases of DMEA solar panels take off, the company plans to build additional arrays of varying sizes from 10 kw to 20 kw.

“Our board suggested that they wanted to have a goal of 5 megawatts (of solar),” Heneghan said.

DMEA is considering building solar arrays in other communities in its service area if demand from those communities grows.

Rays for Rent

Rays for Rent
In some places, leasing solar panels can make more sense than installing a system yourself
By REBECCA SMITH

Stewart Templer loves the shiny new solar panels on the roof of his 1,875-square-foot ranch-style home in Surprise, Ariz.—especially since they didn't cost him anything. He's leasing the system from SolarCity Corp. under a 15-year contract.

View Full Image

Andy DeLisle/Wonderful Machine for The Wall Street Journal
Stewart and Jackie Templer at their Arizona home, with the solar panels they are leasing.

The system, installed in May, has helped the retired physical-education teacher and his wife cut their monthly electricity cost by nearly 35%. Instead of paying the local utility an average of $130 a month, he says, they write a monthly check to SolarCity for $68 and pay $15 to $20 to the utility for the extra juice they need, such as at night when the panels aren't producing electricity.

The leasing cost for their five-kilowatt system will tick upward in coming years, but won't exceed $102 a month, Mr. Templer says.

"Anybody who lives in this area who doesn't do what we've done is crazy," says Mr. Templer, who is 72. "The sun is out 300 days a year here, so why not use it?"

A Popular Arrangement
Lease arrangements like the Templers' are a rapidly growing part of the solar market. They enable homeowners and businesses to get the benefits of solar power without having to spring for the full cost of the expensive systems, which easily can run $20,000 to $50,000. The risk: Solar-equipment costs may continue to fall and the government may heap on more subsidies down the road—which could make a long-term lease more expensive than buying a solar system outright in future years.

Journal Reports

Read the complete Energy report .

In a typical lease arrangement, the leasing company and its investors cover the cost of installing rooftop solar panels, and pocket the lucrative tax credits and public subsidies available for new alternative-energy installations. The homeowner agrees to pay the leasing company a predetermined price for the electricity the system produces; the rate is pegged to be at least 10% lower than prevailing electricity prices in that area. Customers buy any additional power needed from the local utility at the going rate.

Currently, leases run 15 to 20 years, and the lease agreement transfers to the new owner if the property is sold. A SolarCity spokesman says he doesn't know of any cases in which a house has been sold and the new owner hasn't assumed the lease. When leases end, the company assumes owners will either renew for five-year periods, at prices to be negotiated then, or the company will remove its equipment free of charge.


Anheuser Busch embraces solar power at their Newark, NJ brewery. Steve Gelsi reports.

If a customer breaks a lease, the company says it would pursue normal collection methods for all the payments remaining on the lease. It also would retrieve the solar panels from the home in default. So consumers can't just walk away from contracts without penalty.

No national statistics are available, but a study by California officials of its market found that residential lease-type arrangements grew by 155% last year, helped by falling equipment costs. That outpaced growth of 50% in the total residential solar market. The analysis found that 40% of California's solar capacity now is owned by third-party investors—not the people on whose property the systems are located.

Despite the growth so far, only a handful of companies, such as SolarCity, are offering leases. SolarCity, based in Foster City, Calif., operates in nine states—California, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Hawaii. These states offer the magic combination of factors allowing the company to compete effectively against utilities: a good sun resource, high prices for local grid power and substantial local subsidies for solar power.

Lyndon Rive, SolarCity's president and chief executive, says that 80% of its 8,000 customers use lease agreements, with either a fixed monthly payment or power-purchase agreements, or PPAs, in which they pay for each kilowatt-hour of electricity used, at a slight discount to local rates.

SolarCity says a five-kilowatt home system in California will produce 625 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, enough to meet the daytime need of most homes. The consumer might pay 22 cents to 28 cents a kilowatt-hour—about $138 to $175 a month—depending on the ease of installation and the value of local incentives, or slightly less than the top tier of utility prices.

For instance, Kathy Breed, who works in the environmental-stewardship department of Union Bank, recently put a 7.2-kilowatt solar system on her 3,000-square-foot home in Escondido, Calif. It would have cost $48,000 to buy, she says, but instead she's able to lease it for $130 a month on a 10-year contract. The price she pays will rise 3% a year but won't exceed $200 a month. She had been paying $200 to $250 a month for regular utilities, with the highest bills in the summer.

With the solar system, "during the summer, I don't have a utility bill," she says, adding she's "absolutely happy" with the arrangement. Her system makes more than she needs in the day, and she gets a credit that covers the cost of power consumed off the grid at night.

Outside the Home
Solar-leasing deals can range in size from household rooftop systems to more elaborate arrangements. Kaiser Permanente, the big nonprofit health-care organization, recently agreed to put 15 megawatts of solar panels on 15 hospitals in California. Citigroup financed the deal and collected the public subsidies, including a 30% federal tax credit, as the equity investor working alongside developer Recurrent Energy.

John Kouletsis, Kaiser's director of strategy and planning, says Kaiser will make payments totaling $95.6 million over 20 years. Initially, it's a break-even proposition, but he says he believes Kaiser will save money over time, as grid costs increase. And he says there's another reason to act.

"At Kaiser, we've always been about public health and the prevention of illness," says Mr. Kouletsis. Pollution from coal- and gas-fired power plants can cause respiratory problems, including asthma, and other illnesses.

Cities are cashing in, too. Lancaster, a high-desert city northeast of Los Angeles, recently signed a deal with SolarCity for 2.5 megawatts of electricity under a power purchase agreement. In some cases, it's getting a "two-fer," with panels making electricity and providing shade for city parking lots. The price Lancaster is paying—10 cents a kilowatt-hour for a 15-year term—is 37% less than what the city had been paying its local utility.

Robert Neal, public-works director, says Lancaster has so much sunshine that panels are 25% to 30% more productive than typical for U.S. installations. "Businesses are struggling here, and unemployment is high," says Mr. Neal. "So there's real value for the city to enter into contracts so it knows what the cost of power will be in coming years."

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Going green popular across real estate spectrum

Going green popular across real estate spectrum

Just a few years ago, making a commitment to help the environment meant recycling your plastic bags and glass bottles. But today that concept can be taken much further, to the products we buy, the cars we drive, and even the homes we live in.

Now builders have the know-how to make your home healthier, more energy-efficient and more cost-effective by using green materials and technologies. Here are some questions you may want to ask if you are interested in hiring a professional who is also committed to the cause.

• Have you completed any special education or training courses on this topic? Some states and local agencies offer training and even certificate programs for builders who are serious about putting green technologies to work for their clients.

• How can we use the latest technology to reduce costs and boost comfort? This could include using specific kinds of insulation, a special ventilation system, or even solar panels to supplement traditional energy sources.

• What kinds of appliances and home systems should we use? When you think green about all parts of the home, from the toilet (water conservation) to the windows (are they energy efficient?), is when you can make the most difference. An experienced green builder should be able to recommend the products and fixtures that are best.

• How do you reduce, re-use, and recycle? Find out if the builder uses materials made from recycled materials when they are available and recommended. Also, inquire how he disposes of waste materials from the construction site.

Going green when you are building a new home is a worthwhile and serious undertaking. Learn as much as you can about the topic and the builder to ensure a smooth process and productive result. For more information on green building, visit the Green Advantage website at http://www.greenadvantage.org/index.php

Rick Thurtle is a broker associate with Century 21 Homestead Realty. He utilized the resources of 21online.compreparing this story. You can contact Rick at 254-3922 or at www.RickThurtle.com.

Mesa County Clean Air Public Meeting

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission will take public comment this month on plans by Xcel Energy to meet new emissions requirements.

The Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act, which passed the Legislature in April, requires Xcel to develop plans for several criteria, including a 70–80 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide levels by 2017.

Xcel Energy has proposed to eliminate 903 megawatts of coal generation by closing its Valmont plant by the end of 2017 and Cherokee plant by the end of 2022. Xcel then would run its Cherokee plant and one of its Arapahoe units on natural gas.

Xcel also plans to install emission-control equipment at its Pawnee and Hayden power plants.

The plan would cost about $1.3 billion to implement over the next 12 years. Xcel is proposing a new emission-reduction adjustment clause that would allow it to begin recovering those costs on Jan. 1, 2011.

The public comment hearing will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mesa County Commissioners hearing room, 544 Rood Ave.6:00PM - 8:00PM Public Comment Hearing: 10M-245E PSCO Compliance with HB 10-1365 - Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act C3 (Mesa County Commissioners Public Hearing Room 544 Rood Ave,Grand Junction, CO 81502)

Solar lease Vs. Solar Purchase

Welcome to our inaugural installment of “Solar Talk.” Astralux Solar is pleased to be partnering with Colorado Energy News in presenting this new venue to discuss the most relevant and pressing issues in the solar industry today, and how they may impact you. We hope you will join in the conversation.

By Osea Nelson, Astralux Solar

This first column addresses a topic that has dominated the solar scene this year — SHOULD I BUY OR LEASE MY SOLAR PV INSTALLATION? The decision can be boiled down to two questions. First, what is my investment time horizon? Second, what is my primary reason for going solar?

THE BUY DECISION

Purchasing a solar system enables you, the owner, to fix your power cost at 50% to 90% less than current utility rates today for the next 30+ years (with the savings increasing as electricity rates rise) and increase the equity value in the home or business.

This investment decision requires an outlay of cash upfront, or a commitment to a financing option of some type. It also fits better with an investment plan that includes you living in the house for at least four to five more years. The buy decision rewards the upfront investment of cash with ever increasing return as the rate of energy price increase accelerates and your energy cost drop to zero. Where as the returns on a lease are fixed, returns with the buy decision can continually increase.

As far as the minimal maintenance which would be required is concerned, purchasing a system brings with it the manufacturer’s warranty on the panel and inverters, just as with a lease approach. For the workmanship of the installation, the warranty will vary with each installer, but typically the company will offer coverage of future labor and maintenance costs. With a purchased system, you would be responsible for contacting the installer directly to schedule any repair work, and because it is part of your equity, the responsibility does fall more on the owner.

Specifics:
→ Initial investment or financing: 30-40% of total system cost
→ Investment return horizon: 7-10 years to breakeven for residential, 4-5 years for commercial
→ Future returns: 7-8% immediate ROI, continually increasing returns based on utility rates, increased home equity value ($1 saved = $20 in equity for the property), increased lease rate per square foot and lower vacancy rates (commercial property owner), PR and marketing benefits (business owner)
→ Maintenance: manufactured warranties, installer protection varies by installer; some additional commitment from the buyer

THE LEASE DECISION

With a solar lease agreement, you pay nothing for the system and enter into a contract with the leasing company to essentially fix your power bill at or slightly below current rates. Often the lease agreement may have a rate increase escalator (such as 3% per year), but it will be significantly lower than the typical utility rate increase, so your savings increase over time. The rate of that increase is not as fast as under the ownership scenario, hence the trade off. You do not own the system, nor can you claim its equity value for the home.

Obviously, the leasing decision frees you from the burden of an out-of-pocket cash hit in exchange for less savings down the road and not having ownership of the system. This decision can make sense if you do not have the financial resources to purchase the system outright or you are not as sure about the amount of time you plan on spending in your current property, as the lease can be transferred to the new owners.

Specifics:
→ Initial investment: 0-2% of total system cost
→ Investment return horizon: immediate with $0 down
→ Future returns: fixed electrical bill, protection from future larger increases, increased lease rate per square foot and lower vacancy rates (commercial property owner), PR and marketing benefits (business owner)
→ Maintenance: manufactured warranties, maintenance covered by third party, and since the leasing company is buying the solar production, the lease company and owner have aligned incentives to keep the system maintained; less responsibility for owner

So how to you decide which is right for you? Ask yourself the questions above once more:

Is having a minimal or zero upfront payment the most important for you? If so, the lease may be the way to go.

Is building equity in your home or business and generating a much larger return over a longer period of time the most important? Or, is putting some cash into the project upfront or financing the system ok with you? Then perhaps the buy decision is best for you. Ultimately, it is an investment decision, by leasing a PV installation, you have a greater ROI in the first couple of years, and owning the system delivers a greater ROI over the long-term.

SUMMING IT UP

In the final analysis, multiple factors go into virtually every investment decision, including this one. When you reduce it to the most basic denominator, however, it comes down to timing. The chart below shows the two investments side by side for a 4kw residential system. No matter the size of a system, from small residential to large commercial, the trends in the chart will be the same.



As you can see each investment has its advantages at certain time periods. In the first 1-2 years, the buy decision is going to be more expensive while you wait to realize the tax credits and start eliminating your bill. Over the middle life of these investments (years 2-10), the benefits of leasing and owning the system are relatively similar. As the system ages (years 10-30+) ownership is going to have zero payment, while the lease still has a monthly payment due.

From Colorado Energy News

Solar Payback

Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest questions on the mind of someone looking into solar-powering their home or business is: “What's the payback?”

It turns out this question has many positive answers!

For those who are motivated by environmental stewardship, payback can come in the form of the positive thought that a single solar (photovoltaic) panel, over its 40-plus year lifespan, will offset the need to burn 50,000 pounds of coal!

For someone looking for a more financially secure retirement, payback is the peace of mind that comes in knowing your budget won't be affected by ever increasing utility rates.

Speaking of “peace of mind,” there is a lot to be said of an investment with a guaranteed return (as long as the sun keeps coming up) as opposed to the anxiety of stocks or other similar investments these days.

For someone looking to add value to their home for resale, it's not hard to see that a solar system that will save tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in utility expenses over the next 40 years will make their home more inviting than, say, any of the others for sale in the neighborhood still powered by a huge, for-profit, utility company.

For those who are simply sick and tired of rate hikes, payback doesn't get any sweeter than the sight of a backwards spinning utility meter!

All of these benefits are really just an added bonus when we look at how the numbers add up. If you presently use 1,000 kiloWatt-hours of energy a month, your last electric bill was around $130 and your annual payments come to about $1,500. At the historical rate of electric bill inflation (6%) you will spend $80,000 over the next 25 years, just on electricity! There is no such thing as “payback” when it comes to electricity coming from utility companies…every dollar you spend is gone forever.

Now let's look at the situation for someone who installs a solar PV system designed to eliminate that electric bill: The panels have a 25-year warranty and have a practical lifespan of 35-40 years. If you are able to take advantage of the current rebates and tax credits, you will likely pay $10-15K for your PV system…so over the warranted life of the system you will see a 500-800% return on initial investment and that number doesn't include increased property value.

If you are installing a solar system on your business, the deal gets even better because in addition to rebates and tax credits, you can also apply depreciation to the solar equipment.

If you ask me, that all adds up to a pretty amazing “payback”!

Greg Schaefer

Energy consultant

High Noon Solar

569 S. Westgate Dr. #4

Grand Junction, CO 81505

Office: 241-0209

Website: highnoonsolar.com

Palisade orchard goes solar thanks to USDA grant

Fifth-generation farmer Dennis Clark will soon be creating electricity via solar thanks in part to a Rural Development grant Clark secured from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The $44,725 grant will go toward 25 percent of the total project cost, said Scott Wegs of High Noon Solar the company that will install the system for the Clarks.

Clark Family Orchards, 3901 G 1/4 Road in Palisade, grows cherries, apples, peaches, pears and plums. Clark plans to put the solar panels on its packing shed warehouse — “which will help us as electricity costs are soaring,” Clark said.

“We use a huge amount of energy in our warehouse and coolers. We're anxious to have it installed and start generating renewable energy. It'll help offset our electricity costs.”

The solar system will offset roughly 55,000 kilowatt hours yearly, or — at current rates — save about $4,500, Wegs said. With Xcel's new structure the cost savings could be higher, closer to $7,000 a year, he added.

The renewable energy project will also save 116,278 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere annually, Wegs said.

The 2008 Farm Bill, the Rural Energy for America program, allows businesses in communities of less than 50,000, to apply for the USDA grants for energy-efficient upgrades, or renewable energy installation.

Written by Sharon Sullivan
GJ Free Press

Concentrated solar to get big Colorado spread

Concentrated solar to get big Colorado spread
by Candace Lombardi

Colorado could soon be home to the largest concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar farms in the world .
A 30-megawatt solar plant in the works would cover approximately 225 acres of the San Luis Valley in Colorado on land adjacent to transmission facilities owned by the electricity utility, Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo).

Large-scale concentrated solar panels made by Amonix use Fresnel lenses to maximize the amount of electricity that can be garnered from the sun's rays.
(Credit: Amonix)

PSCo is a subsidiary of the electricity and natural gas giant Xcel Energy, which has signed a contract to have Congentrix, a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs Group, to design and build the concentrated solar plant.
Congentrix has garnered all the necessary permits for the project, which is estimated to provide enough electricity to power 6,500 homes annually once completed, but said it has not yet finalized financing.

Assuming Congentrix secures financing shortly, the project will break ground in the first quarter of 2011 and be providing electricity to area residents by 2012, the company said in a statement.

CPV manufacturer Amonix, which will be providing the solar panels for the project, is also connected to the Goldman Sachs Group. It received $25 million in Series A funding from the investment giant, as well as $129 million in Series B funding from other investors including Kleiner Perkins.

CPV solar systems, unlike regular solar panel systems, use lenses or mirrors to maximize the amount of electricity that can be generated from sunlight. Amonix is known for using Fresnel lenses.

In conjunction with the deal's announcement, Xcel Energy has also affirmed that it has a preference for solar over wind when it comes to its renewable energy portfolio.
"Photovoltaic and solar generation have a better match to our peak load than does other intermittent renewables like wind," Tom Imbler, Xcel Energy vice president of commercial operations, said in a statement.

Colo. Guard's solar array generating electricity

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—A solar power array is now generating electricity at the Colorado Army National Guard's readiness center in Grand Junction.
The 172-kilowatt system was installed by Bella Energy. The guard says it provides enough power to offset 450,000 pounds of carbon emissions.

Bella is based in Louisville, Colo.

The Associated Press

Invest In Mesa County

INVEST in Mesa County is a broad-based community initiative being placed on the November ballot to stimulate the economy of Mesa County. This initiative would allow you to voluntarily install a myriad of energy improvements on your residence, business or nonprofit facility.

Among the potential options are improving insulation, a variety of space heating and cooling improvements, high efficiency boilers, ground-source heat pumps, high efficiency furnaces, new lighting, water heating, new windows, reflective roofing, crawl-space mitigation, and wood/pellet stoves. In addition, solar electric, solar thermal and small wind installations would be funded.

The key to this initiative is it is a completely voluntary funding mechanism for retrofitting existing homes and businesses with energy improvements. The payments for the financing would be made through a special improvement district run by Mesa County.

This economic stimulus mechanism has been approved in more than 26 states as a way to get Americans working again. If you work in one of the above industries or believe this is an important way to reinvigorate the Mesa County economy, you should call your local Mesa County Commissioner and tell them that they need to support this issue and get it on the ballot.

For more information or to find out how you can get involved, contact 314-2679. You can also find information on the web at http://www.pacenow.org/

Children’s center receives solar gift

By Richie Ann Ashcraft
Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Western Slope Center for Children received the gift of solar electricity Wednesday afternoon from High Noon Solar.

The 9.89 kilowatt system will produce 40 percent of the center’s electricity need making it a gift that will continue to give for years to come.

“We’d just like to express our gratitude for this tremendous donation,” said Shari Zen, executive director of the center.

The 43 panel system it tied to a solar grid which doesn’t use any battery storage or other supplements to produce or store energy. This make the system virtually maintenance free.

Retail value of the system is estimated near $65,000.

“People are seeing summer rates going up with Xcel so this system is only going to get more valuable, not less valuable,” said Heidi Ihrke, co-owner of the High Noon Solar.

The company makes two solar system donations to the community a year. Ihrke said this year the center and Latimer House were selected to receive the system based on the good they are doing for humanity. “I can’t think of anything that helps people more than helping children,” Ihrke said.

Zen said the solar system would save nearly $400 per month making it possible to provide more services to children who have been victims of abuse.

“This will provide a cushion in our budget that will help us contain our services,” Zen said.

The Western Slope Center for Children is a child advocacy center that treats nearly 300 children and their families annually who are victims of sexual abuse. No child is turned away. The center houses every aspect of victim needs from forensic medical testing to counseling.

The solar system for the Latimer House should be installed by early fall.

Holy Cross part of solar, hydropower study

Holy Cross part of solar, hydropower study

By Staff
Monday, July 19, 2010

An electricity cooperative based in Glenwood Springs is one of three Colorado utilities that will be part of a study to quantify the economic effects on power providers from linking rooftop solar energy and small hydropower plants into the grid.

Holy Cross Energy will be a partner in what is the first such study of its kind in Colorado, said the Governor’s Energy Office, also a partner in the study.

Fort Collins Light and Power and the San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative also are participating.

The study complements legislation passed this year requiring Colorado’s investor-owned utilities to generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable power. Three percent must come from distributed systems such as rooftop solar and small hydropower.

“Typically, adding distributed generation using the sun, water or wind can benefit utilities by reducing or delaying the need to build additional, and costly, utility-scale power plants and transmission,” the Governor’s Energy Office said in a news release.

It also can reduce the need to purchase more costly electricity from other sources during times of peak use, the energy office said.

Coloradans jump at state program to further energy efficiency

More than 26,000 homeowners and businesses have snapped up about $11 million in state rebates for energy-efficient appliances and home improvements since the "Recharge Colorado" program began April 19.

Mike Smith of Greeley got a $50 rebate, equal to a 13 percent discount, on his new dishwasher. Franktown resident Arthur Lowry is set to get a $3,000 rebate on his $10,000-plus solar water heater.

"When we sold our house in Colorado Springs and moved to Greeley, we needed to get new appliances, so this worked out really well," Smith said.

All the rebates for dishwashers and solar hot-water systems are gone — as are those for refrigerators, clothes washers, tankless gas water heaters and photovoltaic solar panels.

There are, however, still 38,481 rebates for a number of energy-saving items, including insulation, duct sealing, energy audits and residential windmills.

"We are very pleased with the response," said Todd Hartman, a spokesman for the Governor's Energy Office, which runs the program. "We just want people to know there are still some rebates available."

The $18 million Recharge Colorado program is part of $300 million in federal economic-stimulus funding.

People can apply by phone or online and are given a "reservation" for 10 to 30 days — depending on the type of rebate — to buy an appliance or contract for work. Then, they file with the state for the rebate.

Of the more than 26,000 reservations to date, 10,552 claims worth $4.8 million have been processed, according to state data.

Residents of 59 of Colorado's 64 counties have participated in the program.

Jefferson County homeowners received the most rebate money by the end of June — $200,500, or about as much money as Boulder and Denver counties combined.

There were single $50 refrigerator rebates in Ouray and Rio Blanco counties.

Colorado Springs Utilities combined its own rebates with the state's to boost its program, said Gabriel Romero, a spokesman for the utility. El Paso County had the second-highest payout, $117,000.

The program is the first to offer rebates statewide. It is also the first to offer incentives for solar water heaters.

"It is a boost for a really good technology," said Jim Burness, chief operation officer of SolSource, the Denver-based company installing a solar hot-water system at the Lowry home.

The system is designed to cut water-heating costs by 90 percent in the summer and 50 percent in the winter, Burness said. Between the rebate and a 30 percent federal tax credit, the system should pay for itself in 12 years.

Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com

World’s First Hybrid Coal-Solar Power Plant Goes Online in Colorado

World’s First Hybrid Coal-Solar Power Plant Goes Online in Colorado

by Cameron Scott, 07/12/10


Here’s a case of strange bedfellows: the world’s first hybrid coal-solar power plant is now up and running outside Palisade, Colorado. A joint project between the utilities giant Xcel Energy and Abengoa Solar, the unit of Xcel’s Cameo plant is intended to show that solar power can reduce the environmental impact of coal-fired power plants.

The plant uses parabolic trough solar collectors to heat the water that goes into the coal-fired turbine, which will reduce the amount of coal used at the facility by 2 to 3 percent. For a cost of $4.5 billion, the hybrid plant will produce the equivalent of just one of 49 megawatts from solar power.

It hardly sounds like a bargain to this blogger, but it’s part of the coal industry’s aggressive efforts to keep its irons in the fire as pressure mounts for cleaner energy alternatives. Indeed, several utilities have joined with the Electric Power Research Institute to study the hybrid coal-solar combination in North Carolina and New Mexico, and a solar-natural gas plant is already under construction in the Sunshine State.

Abengoa has pioneered the parabolic trough solar collector, in which glass mirrors which concentrate the sun’s energy into a series of tubes filled with a heat transfer fluid — in this case, mineral oil. When the oil reaches 300°C, it is fed to an exchanger where the heat is transferred to water, bringing it nearly to boiling before it enters the boiler where a coal fire will convert it to steam, driving the turbine that generates electricity.

Launch of Cameo solar project celebrated

By Emily Anderson
Thursday, July 1, 2010

Xcel Energy’s coal-fired power plant at Cameo and a demonstration solar project that became operational at the site this spring are likely to shut down at the end of this year, according to an Xcel official.

That doesn’t rule out the possibility, though, of solar and other types of energy production occurring at the site in the future, according to Xcel’s vice president of strategic technologies, Mary Fisher.

“No firm decisions” have been made about the site’s future after the scheduled closures, Fisher said, but alternatives to the 53-year-old coal plant will be considered, she said.

An attempt to keep the coal plant and the solar installation going failed in the Legislature earlier this year. Rep. Steve King and Sen. Josh Penry, both Grand Junction Republicans, presented a bill that would have created a moratorium on closing any Colorado power plants blending coal and solar technology until July 1, 2012. The bill timed out on second reading in May.

Fisher said Xcel and partner Abengoa Solar hope to learn as much as they can from the integrated solar project, which uses solar power to generate steam and help decrease the amount of coal needed to produce energy at the plant. Solar troughs built next to the plant have been operational since April and used on a daily basis since June. Xcel hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the project’s progress Wednesday.

The solar troughs are reusable and could be moved off the site and hooked up to another plant that uses fossil fuels after the demonstration period ends, Fisher said. Because the troughs help generate steam and not power directly, the troughs wouldn’t likely be of much use at Cameo once the coal-fired plant closes, Fisher said.

Mesa County Commissioner Steve Acquafresca said at Wednesday’s event he’d like to see the solar troughs stay in Mesa County if at all possible. If that’s not possible, he’s open to other ideas.

“Mesa County government and, I believe, most of the citizens in this community want to facilitate Xcel with a variety of options for this property,” he said.

SustainAbility: Clean Energy Collective

SustainAbility: Clean Energy Collective
By Adele Israel
Monday, June 28, 2010

I first heard about the Clean Energy Collective last month at the 2010 Alliance for Sustainable Colorado Regional Sustainability Roundtable in Rifle.

It sounded intriguing, so I did a little research.

The collective provides a way to decrease your carbon footprint, combat climate change and save money on electricity, all in one fell swoop.

For residents of Roaring Fork and Vail valleys, the collective is an offer too good to refuse.

According to its website, the Carbondale-based collective is a “member-owned cooperative venture that builds and operates centralized clean power-generation facilities at the community level.”

Founded by Roaring Fork native Paul Spencer, the energy collective has been compared to community gardens, only instead of growing food locally, they are generating electricity locally.

The collective has three goals:

1. Accelerate the adoption of long-term clean energy solutions (make them easier, cheaper, safer and longer lasting)

2. Provide utilities with lower risk, well-located and more beneficial clean energy generation (smart clean energy growth).

3. Create a manageable and mutually beneficial production partnership between utilities and consumers.

To get involved in this first of its kind effort, you must invest a minimum of $500, but you can lower utility costs and make a move to electricity generated by renewable sources.

These sources include solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and micro-hydro systems.

In cooperation with local utilities, the collective builds and maintains medium-scaled clean energy facilities that are owned by you and your neighbors.

The collective is able to take advantage of the plethora of rebates, tax incentives and monthly power credits to keep costs low and members receive credits on their monthly electric bills.

A lifetime warranty comes with membership.

The collective works in conjunction with RemoteMeter, which “fully integrates with utility billing systems through a versatile integration engine,” according to the collective’s website. “It tracks and applies clean energy production credits directly on customer bills depending on the utility’s policies, manages production surpluses and integrates with facility meters and meteorological data for real time production monitoring.”

The collective has been busy installing a large solar array in El Jebel and has plans for installations in Snowmass and Garfield and Eagle counties. A proposed array at the Eagle County landfill near Dotsero covers 7 acres with 8,000 panels and will be one of the largest arrays in Colorado.

A May 2010 Solar Daily article quoted Steve Casey of Holy Cross Energy, which provides power to most Roaring Fork Valley consumers. “The CEC model provides a unique vehicle for our members to participate and enjoy the benefits of renewable energy generation,” Casey said.

No projects for Mesa County are on the collective’s drawing board, but our area is on its radar.

Spencer told me the Grand Valley is a “fantastic match with solar” and he wants to sit down with representatives from Grand Valley Power later this summer.

In Aspen Times article earlier this month, Spencer stated, “one of my goals is to eliminate every barrier to green energy.”

Once the collective gets up and running in this area then we can “Join the Clean Energy Collective — member owned, nature operated.”

Learn more at http://www.clean energycollective.com.

Adele Israel is a Grand Junction writer who has been involved in sustainability efforts for some 20 years. Have a question or column idea for Adele? E-mail her at msdeli@bresnan.net.

Ritter’s legacy clean on energy

Ritter’s legacy clean on energy

By Charles Ashby
Sunday, June 20, 2010

Gov. Bill Ritter says he doesn’t care what his legacy will be when he leaves office in January, but it’s clear what that is.

The new-energy economy.

So it was fitting earlier this month, on the last day Ritter had to sign the final bills of his administration, that the governor chose to enact legislation dealing with renewable energy and job-training programs related to the emerging industry in the state.

“What I believe is that we could chart a whole different path on clean energy and that we could become a national model for what could happen in developing clean energy in the United States,” Ritter said. “I’ve signed 56 bills that are public policy matters that do more than just start this. We’ve moved such a long way in the direction of garnering international attention where clean energy development is concerned.”

Momentum for renewable energy began building with a ballot question in 2004 to enact a standard, which required the state’s main power companies to generate at least 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, biomass and solar.

But since Ritter came to office in 2006, he’s pushed that standard first to 20 percent, and now 30 percent, in part because such power companies as Xcel Energy told him they were years ahead in meeting it and would have no trouble doing more.

At the same time, Ritter and the Legislature enacted laws meant to encourage renewable energy use and train Coloradans to work at the wind farms, turbine factories, biomass facilities and solar power plants that have started cropping up around the state.

Some of the state’s leading environmental groups have had a field day over the past few years in seeing Colorado focus on renewable energy as never before.

“One of the most exciting things about having Ritter champion renewable energy is we’ve been able to make huge steps forward on policy matters that’s helped build a movement to doing more, which I think is an important part of his legacy,” said Pam Kiely, program director for Environment Colorado. “Having clean energy on his radar screen has gotten others thinking about it. People have invested a lot into it now, so there’s an incredible amount of momentum.”

Though Kiely worries that momentum might wane depending on who the next governor is, she doesn’t believe it will go away.

Democrat John Hickenlooper and the two GOP candidates for governor said they would continue to focus on clean energy, though each said the state shouldn’t turn its back on natural gas, oil and coal.

Hickenlooper spokesman George Merritt said Ritter has laid the foundation for clean energy, saying Colorado is starting to reap the benefits from it and the next governor needs to carry that forward.

“Colorado has branded itself as an innovator in clean energy,” Merritt said. “We want to build on that as we would every sector of the energy business.”

But the Republican candidates, former U.S. congressman Scott McInnis and Evergreen businessman Dan Maes, said that while the governor’s push to expand renewable sources in the state is laudable, it’s been done at the expense of the old energy economy.

“I appreciate the theory of new and renewable energy and it should be part of our energy platform as we move forward, but Bill Ritter almost destroyed our legacy energy industries — natural gas, oil and uranium — at the expense of his agenda,” Maes said. “It was way out of balance. We must have good access and production of our legacy industries while we develop new energy.”

McInnis echoed those sentiments, saying that electricity from renewable energy is a small part of the state’s resources.

Problem is, it’s not sustainable, at least not yet, he said.

“All energy’s got to be looked at and it’s got to be sustainable,” McInnis said. “We are a long ways off from sustainability on renewables. We’ve got to be realistic about this. Rule No. 1 is you’ve got to protect the ratepayer. You can’t have imaginary goals.”

McInnis said renewable energy won’t reach sustainability unless there’s more of a market for it, but Xcel spokesman Tom Henley said that’s what the renewable standard, tax rebates and other new programs are designed to do.

In addition to creating its own clean-energy sources, Xcel buys electricity from such private renewable projects as solar fields in the San Luis Valley and wind farms on the eastern plains.

“We wouldn’t have agreed to a standard if we didn’t think we could meet it,” Henley said. “We’re strong supporters of renewable energy.”

Ritter said pushing clean energy has helped the state clear the air, create jobs and boost rural economies, something that’s become especially crucial as the nation claws its way out of the worst recession in decades.

He said it would be foolhardy for the next governor to turn his back on all that progress.

“If you look at all of the things that we did, whether it’s energy efficiency or net metering or incentivizing the build-out of transmission lines, we have done the things we said we were going to do,” Ritter said.

“So anybody who looks at the sum total of the jobs and the kind of economic development we’ve been able to do around those jobs and the level of income that’s a result of it, they would be on a fool’s errand to do anything other than wildly promote it.”

Writers on the Range: Energy exporters: Stay out of the San Luis Valley

Writers on the Range: Energy exporters: Stay out of the San Luis Valley


BY CEAL SMITH
WRITERS ON THE RANGE,
Before utility executives and solar-energy prospectors discovered the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado, it was mostly known for its potatoes, Buddhist hermitages and scrappy water wars. Now our high-desert rift valley is home to a clash between two competing visions for Colorado's renewable energy future.

As utilities and their regulators argue over who is to blame for lagging renewable energy portfolios, a solution can be found right where I live. The San Luis Valley once again points the way towards solar innovation. When the first energy crisis shook the country in the 1970s, back-to-the-land visionaries fired up about solar electricity flocked to the this valley, where cheap land, lax building codes and high-altitude sunny skies offered the perfect solar playing field.

Among them was Marianne North, the daughter of J.K. Ramstetter, an early solar energy inventor from Golden, Colo. Within a decade, North and her small band of solar pioneers had installed over 1,000 solar systems. The many versions including passive, active or hybrid, connected to the electric grid or not, and both air and water-cooled, were all based in the small communities of San Luis, Alamosa and Crestone.

The Solar Energy Research Institute — now the National Renewable Energy Lab in Boulder, Colo. — credited the San Luis Valley back then with inspiring “an explosion in solar energy resulting in perhaps the highest per capita concentration of solar installations in the country.” Energy sovereignty was a shared goal, driven by an ethos of self-reliance common among the offspring of Spanish and Anglo settlers who colonized this remote Shangri–la in the 1800s.

Over time, solar experiments in the valley grew bigger, bolder and more sophisticated. When the 8 megawatt (MW) SunEdison plant went online in April 2007, the valley became home to one of the largest solar photovoltaic farms in the country. Three years later, the valley is close to generating a whopping 63 megawatts of solar electricity, enough to power 100 percent of the average electricity needs of 50,000 people living on its widely dispersed farms, ranches and small towns. To many of us living here, the valley is doing everything right to become the first grid-supported energy-independent region in the nation.

But not if the utility industry has its way.

One of the country's major electricity suppliers, Xcel Energy, along with Tri-State Generation and Transmission, wants to turn this mosaic of wetlands, sand dunes and Spanish Colonial-era rural farmlands into a solar-energy sacrifice zone. Xcel, which brings power to eight states over 17,335 miles of power lines, thinks big when it comes to solar. Solar power companies are proposing giant collector fields — as big as 15 miles square — to fuel its power plants and hook onto the grid. This is an industrial model that's the antithesis of the small-scale, local solar power envisioned by the valley's first energy innovators.

Energy prophet Amory Lovins calls central energy generation the “Victorian steam locomotives” of the new millennium. Here in the San Luis Valley, we propose something better: to distribute community-based power from the sun, with no new powerlines chewing up the scenery. Solar photovoltaics, microturbines, fuel cells and other decentralized clean energy technologies are now evolving faster than you can Google “free the grid.” Collectively, these new micro-grid tools are rendering the energy sovereignty dream a reality. As prices plummet, slapping solar panels on our sun-baked urban rooftops, parking lots, center pivot corners and other unused lands at the point where the energy is used, is now the cheapest, fastest, smartest and greenest path to a renewable energy future.

But Xcel Energy and Tri-State do not share this vision. Instead, they want to rip a 95-mile, $200 million high-voltage transmission line through the rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountains to siphon energy generated from the valley's sunshine to Front Range “energy markets,” hundreds of miles away.

To an eclectic coalition of solar devotees, farmers, ranchers, scientists, environmentalists, doctors, artists and retirees, this is nothing less than an invasion of solar industrialists. Our goal is to stop the transmission line by banding together: The coalition calls itself the San Luis Valley Renewable Communities Alliance. What we support is state-of-the-art microgrid technologies to empower communities within the valley and across the state to generate their own power on the existing grid.

We're working to create a model of sustainability and self-reliance that can inspire other rural communities. We refuse to give that up to become just another example of an energy sacrifice zone.

Ceal Smith is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). She is a biologist, sustainability consultant and member of the San Luis Valley Renewable Communities Alliance in Crestone, Colorado.