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SRP solar plant northwest of Flagstaff expected to offset 1 billion pounds of CO2 each year

SYDNEE WILSON Cronkite News

FLAGSTAFF — The Salt River Project has partnered with private renewable energy company Clēnera to bring Arizona’s largest solar plant by 2024.

Construction of the CO Bar Solar plant will begin this year on 2,400 acres of private land northwest of Flagstaff in Coconino County. Once complete, it is expected to offset 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide annually while generating electricity for 80,000 Arizona homes.

The project is designed to help SRP achieve its decarbonisation goals. It expects about 50% of the energy it provides to customers to come from carbon-free sources and to reach 2,025 megawatts of solar power by 2025.

CO Bar Solar will provide a total of 1,000 megawatts of solar power, while SRP customers will receive 400 megawatts. Clēnera will operate the plant and control who gets the rest of the power. Jared McKee, Clenera’s vice president of business development, said this will benefit all Arizonans and lower the cost of clean energy.

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According to him, this project establishes sustainability for the entire development process.

“When we look at the scale of this project, there really aren’t any projects like this in the U.S. where you put together a 1,000 megawatt project,” McKee said. “We developed this project in coordination with county officials, Arizona Game & Fish to ensure that we have wildlife corridors, to ensure that all sustainable construction is done, so that we can have a project that we can all do. be really proud.”

In addition to being environmentally sustainable from start to finish, McKee said it will be sustainable in terms of costs and reliability.

“Unless it’s done at a cost that makes sense for every ratepayer, every switcher, you’re never going to get full market transformation,” McKee said.

SRP’s relationship with solar has been rocky for years. The utility initially encouraged customers to install rooftop solar, but in 2015 began charging higher rates for customers who installed solar systems after December 2014. In response, four customers filed an antitrust lawsuit in 2020. The suit was dismissed by the lower court. that year, but earlier this year overturned a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the appeals court’s ruling, Judge Eric D. Miller wrote that the plaintiffs “suffered direct and economic harm from SRP’s predatory pricing scheme, which was designed to stifle competition by discouraging customers from installing solar energy systems.”

SRP is still charging higher rates to solar customers, but that may change now that the lawsuit may be pending.

Michael Reynolds, manager of resource analysis and planning at SRP, said the company balances affordability, sustainability and reliability.

“When the sun is shining, we have great benefits from solar power coming online,” Reynolds said. “Many of our customers came to us and wanted something that could serve their sustainability goals throughout the day. They don’t just want something that will help when the sun comes up. They want something that can last into the night.”

SRP is investing in wind power and long-term solar storage to make clean energy more reliable and sustainable, Reynolds said. These two solutions can help provide carbon-free energy at night and in more unpredictable weather.

“We really have to think about some of the very rare cases where we have multiple days of weather that could affect how things work,” he said. “It will be important for us to make sure we have online resources that can be accessed in the event of an emergency or unexpected weather system demand. Therefore, we must have a diverse portfolio of resources, and we do.

“Now, as we look into the distant future, I believe we can think about what it would look like to be completely carbon-free. But we need to think about how we can maintain reliability and diversity across resource types as we continue this decarbonization.”

Solar energy is Arizona’s number one renewable energy source and SRP is a leading energy provider in metro Phoenix. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the state ranks fifth in the nation for solar-powered electricity. Making Arizona 100% solar or completely carbon-free would be difficult given today’s technology limitations, but it’s not out of reach.

Barry Petrey, SRP’s manager of resource procurement, said it is possible to see a clean energy future for Arizona.

“I can certainly imagine a carbon-free portfolio in the future,” Petrey said. “100% carbon-free resources.”

From ‘green’ to protecting from disaster

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – The sun is making headlines in the Southeast. A $2.5 billion solar investment in Georgia was announced in mid-January, and after the TVA blackout in December, solar is turning heads and changing some minds.

“There will be some nights when I go past midnight without even touching the net,” Rose Hale said

Compared to regions where sunlight is more reliable, the Tennessee Valley has been slow to adopt residential sunlight, experts shared with WVLT News.

“Every day you have electricity, it’s going to save you some money,” Hale said

Hale is able to power the renovated hay barn primarily with solar energy. According to Hale, his system from Solar Alliance runs in full sun during warmer weeks. He sends only a few dollars to the power company most months.

“Well, we all want to save money, but I wanted to take care of myself in case of a catastrophic accident,” Hale said.

Hale lives in rural Knox County, but loves the peace the sun brings him in bad weather or more cataclysmic situations.

Dr. Charles Sims of the University of Tennessee said it may be one of the reasons people living in rural areas are embracing solar energy.

“We’ve seen a lot of interesting high-paying requests in rural areas that I didn’t even expect,” Sims said.

Sims surveyed 3,000 people around the Tennessee Valley to find out what struck them: when their timers went off.

“What we’ve found is that the biggest driver is really the upfront cost. So if that cost comes down … it’s going to have a huge impact on adoption,” Sims said.

Dr. Sims found that on average, people around the Valley are only willing to pay $500 for home solar, but businesses won’t tolerate “blackout dates” after recent blackouts.

“The thought that you could be without power for a day or two, disrupting production, is a pretty big incentive,” Sims said.

It was an incentive Hale was willing to pay.

“It was a relief,” Hale said. “It was good to know the fridge would keep working if something broke.”

Solar energy for personal or residential use is a big investment. Hale has 30 panels and thousands of battery installations. With that much money, people should do their research.

People who rent have another problem. Experts from the Solar Alliance said that tenants do not have the right to install solar panels. Some communities come with “community solar” that allows people to buy solar panels even if they are not on their premises.

Solar Alliance’s Anne Brock said it’s also important for people to know who they’re hiring. “Save yourself the headache by making sure you can rely on a reputable, licensed company that has a good working relationship with your city, county and utility company,” Brock said.

Brock recommended asking the installer if they are staffed by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. NABCEP is a solar certification that requires continuing education.

Copyright 2023 WVLT. All rights reserved.

Mountains of Solar Waste: What Can Be Done?

Dear EarthTalk: If the solar panels everyone is putting up now are obsolete in 20-30 years, how are we going to deal with all the waste?

-Paul B., Chevy Chase, MD

We love our solar panels, but in 10-20 years most of them will end up in landfills if we don’t figure out how to recycle them. Credit: Pexels.com.

There are many features that the average consumer looks for when purchasing green alternatives for home electricity generation. Many hope to find the most efficient, lightest or most durable options, but what about the most recyclable?

This question is often overlooked when making such a purchase. Unfortunately, ignoring the product life cycle can have disastrous consequences, especially if reducing environmental impact is a concern.

Take solar panels for example. The average solar panel lasts about 25 years, and the vast majority of them were purchased within the last 10 years. This means that over the next 15 years, millions of old and damaged solar panel landfills will be flooded. A 2020 study by the federally funded National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimated that up to eight million tons of solar modules could end up in global landfills by 2030, and that by 2050 these solar panels could account for 10 percent of all electronic energy sources. showed he could. waste on the planet.

To make matters worse, if the waste is not disposed of properly, it can cause problems for the groundwater in its vicinity. Solar panels contain small amounts of toxic compounds such as lead and a carcinogen known as cadmium telluride. If any of these chemicals were to leach into a freshwater source, the water would be unsafe for use in most capacities.

Although solar panels can be recycled, there is no incentive to do so. About 80 to 85 percent of a solar panel made of materials such as aluminum, copper, silicon, and glass can be recycled; but the process will actually cost more than the cost of the raw material.

Thankfully, the US Department of Energy’s Office of Solar Energy Technologies has been hard at work developing a comprehensive system for handling and recycling solar panels. By 2030, they plan to reduce the cost of recycling solar panels to just $3 per panel. This reduction would actually make solar panel recycling an economically feasible venture!

However, there is still the option of rebuilding new solar panels from old solar panels. However, this requires direct reuse of reclaimed materials. For example, silicon can be directly fed back into solar panels or even used in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries – a functional storage unit for the energy generated by the use of solar panels.

But what about simply going green with solar panels? Instead of silicon solar panels (what people usually buy), there is another option known as Sunflare thin film solar panels. Lightweight modules have a carbon footprint 20 percent that of silicon, require no toxic chemicals like lead, cadmium, hydrofluoric acid or hydrochloric acid to produce, require less water, and require 80 percent less energy to produce. . They’re also paper-thin, require no silicon cleaning, glass, or mounting, and are even more efficient in low-light conditions!

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EarthTalk® Produced by Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss for a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. EarthTalk. See more at https://emagazine.com. To donate, visit https://earthtalk.org. Send your questions to [email protected].

County’s Municipal Planning Commission approves solar energy project


News Local News Photo: Vulcan Advocate file photo

Vulcan County’s Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) has approved a development permit for a solar energy project northwest of Mossleigh.

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Georgetown Solar Inc.’s 230-megawatt project, along with a battery storage component, was approved at the MPC’s Jan. 11 meeting.

The layout of the planned site includes approximately 433,000 bifacial solar panel modules on a fixed tilting support, a battery energy storage area consisting of 84 energy storage containers for lithium-ion phosphate batteries, 21 power conversion stations with two inverters and one transformer each, and two auxiliaries. reads the report of the transformers. The project is located in seven quarters.

The implementation of the solar power plant also included the construction and operation of the new Mossleigh substation, which would be located in the north-west corner of the project boundary.

“The substation and associated components are not something our development authority contemplated and therefore were left out of this application,” Vulcan County development specialist Alena Matlock said in the report.

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The project covers about 1,100 acres, but only 547 acres will be part of the permanent project. The areas where the solar farm infrastructure is located will be fenced off from the rest, Matlock writes.

Georgetown Solar applied to the Alberta Public Utilities Commission in March 2022 and received approval for the project on November 2.

Vulcan County attended the hearing in a “limited capacity” and raised concerns about soil erosion and weed control, Matlock wrote.

“Vulcan County’s experience with renewable energy development appears to have recurring and specific challenges, particularly with soil wind erosion and weed control,” Matlock wrote.

Georgetown has indicated in its conservation and reclamation plan that it will take special erosion and weed control measures.

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“Soils will be protected from erosion by retaining crop/stubble residue prior to and during construction, over which construction traffic will travel,” says Georgetown Solar. “Once the crop is harvested, a stubble assessment will be completed to determine if there is enough stubble remaining or if a cover crop is needed to increase soil protection. In limited cases where soil is damaged, salvaged, or stockpiled, soils shall be protected by temporary vegetation with annual species, erosion control mulches, or any combination of erosion control methods as a system appropriate to the situation.”

Georgetown Solar conducted extensive public consultation for the program, Matlock wrote.

“Stakeholder concerns were related to weed management and control, decommissioning and reclamation, increased traffic, human or livestock health risks, environmental impacts and visual/aesthetic impacts. At the end of the public consultation period, five of the approximately 23 landowner participants indicated that Georgetown’s responses did not adequately address concerns about the project’s location.”

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Ford’s Spanish Plant Adds Enough Solar Panels To Power 1,400 Homes

Ford plans to equip its entire production base with renewable energy by 2035

By Sebastien Bell

January 17, 2023 at 8:40 p.m

By Sebastien Bell

Ford announced today that it has added 2.8 megawatts of solar panels at its plant in Valencia, Spain. The new panels will help power the station and produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 1,400 average homes.

The automaker plans to add more panels in the near future, the latest step in Ford’s mission to make the manufacturing facility responsible for cars like the Kuga and the Transit Connect cleaner. In fact, in the coming months it will add another 2.2 megawatts of panels to the plant’s non-productive areas, enough to power another 1,100 homes.

By 2024, Ford hopes to install a total of 10 megawatts of solar panels at the plant. To do this, it will look for all the unused land in the Spanish facility and install panels on roofs and elsewhere.

Read: Ford Uses 2,159-Panel Solar Array to Power EV Chargers at Research and Engineering Center

While the solar panels help Ford reduce its dependence on the national grid, its Valencia plant, along with all of Ford’s European plants, will run entirely on renewable energy from January 1, 2021.

“Now more than ever, we all recognize the need to use renewable energy sources,” said Stuart Southgate, Ford’s Director of Sustainable, Environmental and Safety Engineering Europe. “As we move towards an all-electric future at Ford and carbon neutrality in our manufacturing, investments in innovations like this new solar power plant in Valencia are creating new self-sustaining renewable energy, which is an important contribution to our ongoing ambition to help. building a better world.”

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Meanwhile, in the US, Ford is working with companies like DTE Energy for green electricity and hopes to power all of its plants in Michigan with renewable energy by 2025. Globally, the automaker plans to use only renewable energy to power its entire production base by 2035.