Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA recently hired The Alpha Group, Alpha Energy to install a 21kW solar power system to be commissioned on October 3.

“It is exciting to see educational institutions getting involved in renewable energy projects like this,” said Drew Zogby, President and COO of Alpha Technologies. “By showing their own commitment to going green, Whitman College is leading by example and encouraging their students to follow the same path. By providing Whitman with high quality system design, installation and innovative monitoring systems, Alpha Energy is demonstrating our own commitment to the best at what we do. This turnkey system is something Whitman and their students can be proud of.”

The 2,500 sq. ft. rooftop installation includes 120 photovoltaic panels, and is one of the largest solar arrays in Walla Walla County and in the Washington territories of Pacific Power and Light (PPL) company. The system will generate an estimated 25,000 kWhs annually, which constitutes about 20% of the Bratton Tennis Center’s power needs. A solar monitoring station will be located on the first floor of the Hall of Science allowing students and the general public to monitor the system’s output.

“The educational aspect of the project is a vital component,” said Bob Carson, Grace Farnsworth Phillips professor of geology and environmental studies. “And Whitman is ideally suited to educate members of the Whitman and Walla Walla communities about the importance of alternative energy solutions. This project shows students and community members that what needs to done, can be done. It’s a public acknowledgement that we can’t continue to get all of our power from fossil fuels, because we do have alternative energy solutions.”

The monitoring Web site for the system is currently online, and an official dedication of the solar panels will be held Saturday, Oct 3, at 3:30 p.m. in Kimball Theatre, Hunter Conservatory.

Riverside, California is planning to convert a former landfill into a photovoltaic (PV) farm that produces solar energy. But city officials were concerned that some residents might oppose the project, so they held a community meeting and erected E-Z Up tents so residents could see just where the solar panels would be.

The plan to engage the community worked so well that nearly all concerns about the project had melted away by the time the meeting ended. The idea – giving residents something visual – can be replicated in other city projects and probably will be, city officials said.

“People like to be shown. They tend to be visual on utility projects,” Riverside City Councilman Mike Gardner said. “We are used to seeing a power plant or a transmission tower. It just doesn’t intuitively fit that, ‘Well, I just won’t see it (the PV farm).’”

Riverside Public Utilities initially is proposing to generate 1 MW of power on a 10-acre patch of the capped, 200-acre landfill using largely existing power lines. One megawatt would provide enough power for about 750 homes. The initial phase of the project would cost between $8 million and $10 million.

The utility’s long-range plan is to produce 10MW of solar power on 100 acres of former landfill, enough power for 7,500 homes. That larger project, which would include planting groundcover in the area to further reduce the visual impacts, would cost $80 million to $100 million.

The project is part of an ongoing effort in Riverside to develop solar energy resources and to maintain “clean and green” practices. The city has adopted the Green Riverside Action Plan, with 38 goals that outline ways residents and city officials can collaborate to improve air quality, reduce traffic congestion and otherwise preserve the environment. The plan highlights seven vital areas: energy, greenhouse gas emissions, waste, urban design, urban nature, transportation, and water. Of the goals, 34 have already been reached or are on target.

For example, earlier this year, just eight years after its first solar energy project came online, Riverside surpassed the milestone of producing more than 1 megawatt (MW) of local solar energy, enough energy to power 750 homes in Southern California. The City also has implemented rebate programs for residential and commercial customers that will increase solar generation in the City to 3MW by 2020. The farm would help the city reach those goals and help reduce greenhouse gases emissions.

The community meeting hammered home the point that the former landfill is pitched, like the roof of a house, and therefore will prevent residents from seeing the photovoltaic panels. The panels will be tucked into the side of the landfill that is opposite from the side that faces the only houses in the area. Only someone standing directly on the landfill – which is not allowed – will be able to see the panels below.

The effort appears to have worked. So far, no one has expressed opposition to the idea to take a vacant piece of land and use it as a source of clean energy. The city is moving forward with the plan after receiving conceptual approval from the Riverside City Council. That allowed the utility to proceed with preliminary engineering.

“It’s important that the residents feel that the city and the city utility care about what they think rather than just doing what is expedient for the city and utility,” Gardner said.

The PV farm effort is being led by Riverside Public Utilities, a consumer-owned water and electric utility governed by a board of nine community volunteers. The utility, which is committed to increased use of renewable energy resources and sustainable living practices, provides high-quality, reliable services to more than 106,000 metered electric customers and 63,400 metered water customers throughout Riverside.

The landfill property has been owned by Riverside for nearly a century and operated as a landfill until 1985. The city’s Public Works department considered putting the land to recreational use, but the site’s location makes that difficult. The land cannot be irrigated because of potential damage to the cap on the landfill; water would eventually percolate into the refuse.

Riverside Public Utilities, however, sees great potential in the landfill. The utility has proposed building a small project initially, then possibly expanding it to include more solar panels, and more clean and green electricity, in the future.

Utility officials were confident that the plan would be well-received if they could get enough information into the hands of nearby residents. Conversely, they were concerned that, without the public information effort, the project would hit a roadblock before it even got off the ground.

Utility staff members hand-delivered dozens of letters that outlined the merits of the project and invited the public to a meeting. They explained that the proposed Tequesquite Solar Farm would be on the portion of the 200-acre site that slopes towards the Santa Ana River, not toward homes. They also encouraged residents to view the project site from their backyards on the day of the public meeting and assured them that if they could not see the E-Z Up tents that day, they would not see the solar panels once they are installed.

Gardner, who lives nearby, said the landfill was there when he moved in 35 years ago. He said it was noisy and that neighbors could hear the equipment, especially at the end of the day when that day’s trash was covered.

“The bulldozer ran all day,” Gardner said. “Clearly you could hear it. It was convenient to have it there, but overall, I am glad it is gone.”

Gardner said only one or two people have asked him about the photovoltaic farm project and, so far, nobody has been against it. And, he said, they likely will end up actually liking the aesthetics.

“Right now, the top of the landfill is bare dirt, so if we can put some panels out there with a bluish or greenish tint, people might actually prefer that,” Gardner said.

DOE has allocated a total of $27 million for the awards. The funding opportunity is open to all domestic institutions and entities. Funding will be provided to expand training and professional development to instructors who are creating or improving existing training courses for their local PV or SHC installation workforce. Funding will also be provided to administer the National Consortium for Solar Installer Instructor Training, which will regularly convene stakeholders from industry, education, government and other organizations to meet DOE’s objectives to expand instructor capacity in the PV and SHC installer fields.

To read the full funding opportunity announcement (DE-FOA-0000078), visit https://www.fedconnect.net and click on “Search Public Opportunities” on the right-hand side of the page. Under “Search Criteria,” select “Issuing Office,” enter “Golden Field Office,” then click on “Search.” Once the screen comes up, look for the announcement named “Recovery Act: Solar Market Transformation.” The announcement is split into two topics; the solar installer training is covered under Topic 2.

Applications must be submitted through FedConnect to be considered. Instructions for registering are available in the FedConnect Quick Start Guide at: https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/PublicPages/FedConnect_Ready_Set_Go.pd. State and local officials interested in additional information about developing and implementing cost-effective clean energy and environmental strategies that help further environmental and clean energy goals and achieve public health and economic benefits may visit: http://epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-programs/state-and-local/index.html

The solar unit replaces the city’s current lighting system on 30 foot utility poles commonly used on residential and busy streets. Solar power is stored in batteries, and at dusk the the unit powers up white or yellow LEDs for 8 to 12 hours of lighting.

CEO Shane Chapin has some cost projections: “In a town with 50,000 lights the current monthly expense is about $215,400 based on running the lights for 10 hours per day. Switching to ISS generates average savings of about $158,400. Cost savings depend on the available sunlight and we can assess the expected savings for each community.”

Eco Alternative Solutions expects to be able to ship “upwards of 500,000 units per month” from US manufacturers in different regions of the country by mid-2010. The company is also prepared to help cities comply with the American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for funding assistance, and has financing options that keep payments at or below current energy expenses.

Cities wishing to participate in the trial program can contact Chapin at 217-381-8901.

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