solar

Northwest Arctic villages to break ground on solar projects next spring

Aerial view of the Native Village of Shungnak
The Native Village of Shungnak (Photo courtesy of Northwest Arctic Borough)

By Wesley Early, KTOO

Construction is set to start next spring on a solar battery project in the Northwest Arctic villages of Shungnak and Kobuk. It’s the latest renewable project for a region routinely struck by high energy costs.

It’s always been expensive to provide energy to rural Alaska. With most communities not falling on the road system, locals are forced to barge and fly in diesel fuel to power generators. There is a state program that reduces energy costs but with the state’s budget crisis, it’s unknown how long that program will be around.

Edwin Bifelt said even with state support, energy in rural Alaska remains pricey.

“Even with Power Cost Equalization, people see rates anywhere from 20 cents up to 40 to 50 cents a kilowatt-hour, which is four or five times the national average,” Bifelt said.

Bifelt, who grew up in the village of Huslia, is the founder and CEO of Alaska Native Renewable Industries. The company specializes in providing renewable energy to rural Alaska communities.

ANRI wrapped up the construction of Alaska’s largest rural solar farm in Kotzebue earlier this year, a 576-kilowatt project with more than 1,400 solar panels. Combined with the local electric co-op’s wind turbines, it’s estimated that Kotzebue is about 50% powered by renewable energy.

Now, ANRI is contracted with the Northwest Arctic Borough for just over $2.1 million to construct similar arrays in the villages of Shungnak and Kobuk, the easternmost communities in the borough. Bifelt said he expects the arrays to lower utility bills in the villages.

“Definitely see a decrease in the amount of diesel fuel that they have to fly in every year, but it’s tough to say right now what end effect it’s going to have for residents in the long run,” Bifelt said.

Kobuk and Shungnak combined have about an eighth the population of Kotzebue. Bifelt said the two new arrays will follow a similar design to the Kotzebue project, but they will be much smaller.

“The tentative design we have is for approximately a 38-kilowatt array in Kobuk and a 186-kilowatt array in Shungnak, I believe,” Bifelt said.

Bifelt said rural energy projects aren’t new to the region, though his company puts an emphasis on hiring locals to help with construction rather than fly up workers from larger cities.

“Just to provide some temporary jobs, provide some new skills for people within the community relating to renewable energy, and giving them education and experience with solar,” Bifelt said.

Construction of the solar arrays should wrap up by summer next year.

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Solar systems, enviro-funding before NJ panel

The New Jersey Assembly’s Environment and Solid Waste committee will meet at 1 p.m. on Monday, December 7 to consider the following bills:

A4397 – Allows installation of residential solar energy systems prior to obtaining construction permit or interconnection approval during COVID-19 emergency.

S2606 – Allows installation of residential solar energy systems prior to obtaining construction permit or interconnection approval during COVID-19 emergency.

A5053 – Amends list of environmental infrastructure projects approved for long-term funding for FY2021 to include new projects and modify estimated loan amounts for certain projects; modifies terms and conditions for certain loans utilizing federal funds.

A5054 – Authorizes NJ Infrastructure Bank to expend additional sums to make loans for environmental infrastructure projects for FY2021; modifies terms and conditions for certain loan utilizing federal funds.

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Wrapping a building in solar panels to maximize energy

By Billy Ludt, Solar Power World 

Solar systems are predominantly installed on rooftops in urban settings, where open land is scarce but multi-level buildings are aplenty. Often, the roof space on these structures isn’t large enough to host solar systems that can cover a building’s entire energy footprint, so they’re supplemented with renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by out-of-city solar systems.

Onion Flats, an architecture firm, wanted to buck that trend and maximize PV output without having to subscribe to RECs on its Front Flats apartment building project in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The solution was installing solar panels on the roof, as well as on the majority of the east-, west- and south-facing walls of the building. In total, the solar system generates 176 kW, which is more than the Front Flats needs — and that’s by design.

Like an onion, Front Flats has layers

Philadelphia design-build architecture firm Onion Flats installed a 176-kW solar system with a rooftop canopy and wraps around the east-, west- and south-facing walls of its Front Flats apartment building. Onion Flats

Being in a state and city not known for solar incentives, the Front Flats project is an anomaly, both in appearance and size. 

“I wouldn’t call this a solar city,” said Tim McDonald, CEO of Onion Flats. “The renewable energy credits in Pennsylvania suck, but you go across the bridge to New Jersey and it’s a different world. There’s not a real incentive financially to push it. We push it because we think that’s where we need to be.” 

From the second story up, the 28-unit apartment building’s windows are slightly obscured by bifacial solar panels protruding from its exterior walls. Those vertical panels on the east, west and south façades meet the horizontal modules held by canopy supports on the roof. Tenants have rooftop access, where shade gardens are planted, and McDonald said the bifacial module shell still allows natural light into the building and offers additional visual privacy. 

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New 100mw solar facility to power Google data centers

By The Chattanoogan

The Tennessee Valley Authority said Monday that the new 100-megawatt solar facility in Obion County, Tn. will supply carbon-free energy to Google’s data centers in Clarksville, Tn. and Hollywood, Al. 

Florida-based solar developer Origis Energy is using TVA’s nationally recognized Green Invest program to develop the solar farm.

“The Green Invest program helps customers like Google meet their long-term sustainability goals with new renewable energy projects,” officials said. “In the past two years, Green Invest has generated $1.4 billion in economic activity in TVA’s service area.”   

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Community solar panel legislation promoted as a potential boon for Pennsylvania farmers

Virus Outbreak Pennsylvania
A message is printed on bales near a farm is in Lebanon, Pa., Tuesday, May 12, 2020.Matt Rourke / AP photo

By Christen Smith | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Proposed legislation enabling electricity credits for community solar panels may just benefit Pennsylvania’s struggling farmers the most.

At least, so say the clean energy groups testifying in favor of House Bill 531 this week. The proposal, under consideration in the House Consumer Affairs Committee, would allow residents to invest in solar panels installed on open land and receive a credit on their electricity bill as if the units were on their own roofs instead.

“There is no question that HB 531 would help farmers to diversify their profits and productivity, and take advantage of the unused open space on hillsides, on the roofs of barns, chicken houses and other structures,” said Chad Forcey, executive director of the Pennsylvania Conservative Energy Forum. “On the land itself, farmers can take advantage of temporary development enhancements. Soybeans, pollinator-friendly crops and even beehives can flourish underneath solar panels.” 

Leslie Elder, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director for the Coalition for Community Solar Access, said investors will move forward with more than 220 “shovel-ready” projects in over 40 counties – as soon as the bill passes. The deals have already secured between $3 and $4 million in land leases for farmers. 

She said the legislation provides a lifeline to farmers, hit hard by tanking milk prices and broken supply chains. 

The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau likewise lent their support to the legislation in 2019, recognizing that agriculture can “play a key developmental role.”

“This is a case where there is strength in numbers,” Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman Brad Roae, R-Crawford, said. “When people work together and pool their resources, they often can accomplish more together than they ever could while they were apart.”

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Grow crops, not solar panels, on New Jersey’s best farmland

By Michele S. Byers, New Jersey Conservation Foundation

If there’s any doubt that New Jersey is the Garden State, visit a local farm stand or a farmers’ market. This time of year, you will find some of the world’s most delicious produce: fresh Jersey tomatoes, peaches, sweet corn, peppers, blueberries, melons, squash and much more.

What makes them so good? One key ingredient is excellent soil. New Jersey has some of the best agricultural soils on Earth, perfect for growing a wide variety of foods.

These “prime” and “statewide important” soils are an incredibly precious natural resource that should never be taken for granted or squandered.

That’s why a proposed law to encourage large utility-scale solar projects without provisions to keep it off our best farmland and open space is a bad idea, no matter how well intentioned it may be.

The proposed legislation, S-2605, would toss out New Jersey’s existing solar siting policies, including provisions to restrict solar on farmland and redirect it to sites like brownfields, landfills, rooftops and parking lots.

The proposed law would not only make it easier to build large, utility-scale solar arrays on the state’s best farmland, it would also allow forests to be clear-cut to make way for solar projects, which makes no sense. Forests store the equivalent of 8% of New Jersey’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Make no mistake, encouraging solar energy is essential and is a critical part of New Jersey’s clean energy future.

By using a mix of solar, offshore wind and other clean technologies, this state we’re in plans to transition to 100% clean energy by 2050 for its power supply. Reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels is critical to combating climate change.

But solar energy projects must be built in the right places. And high quality farmland and forests are most definitely not the right places.

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