2011年5月30日星期一

Schuylkill County plants turning to solar power

Although Pennsylvania developers are facing diminished state funding, solar energy systems are starting to help power some Schuylkill County manufacturing plants, like Sterman Masser Potato Farms and FesslerUSA.

Edward V. Johnstonbaugh, extension educator, Agri-Energy Economic Development Penn State Extension, said the solar energy systems being built in Schuylkill County are some of the largest in Pennsylvania.

According to Johnstonbaugh, though the highest capacity systems in the state are about 3 to 4 megawatts - or 3,000 to 4,000 kilowatts - some in the county are considered large-scale.

One of the largest recently completed systems in the county is the 1-megawatt solar energy system at Sterman Masser Potato Farms, Sacramento.

The western Schuylkill County potato processing plant in Hubley Township, which also harnesses alternative energy by transforming landfill gas into electricity, finished an energy system May 19 in which solar panels cover four acres of farmland just off Fearnot Road. The panels capture energy and convert it into power for the entire operation at the plant.

The system is expected to produce about 1,107,000 kilowatt hours of energy each year.

Johnstonbaugh said the average American home uses about 750 to 1,000 kWh hours a month.

Masser said that the energy produced from the system goes into the PPL grid and is virtually metered.

It is then subtracted from meters on the property within a two-mile radius of the site, powering irrigation and farm buildings, grain systems, fans and equipment sheds and barns.

The other manufacturer using solar energy, FesslerUSA, is an Orwigsburg-based design services and apparel manufacturing company. A $2.2 million project started four years ago is nearing completion with the installation of 1,600 solar panels that will cover about half of the facility's roof. The 450-kilowatt per year solar energy system, roughly half the size of the Masser system, is expected to start collecting energy in June.

According to Ira Walton, the solar project manager at Fessler-USA, workers are installing about 180 to 200 panels a day, which will cover 75,000 square feet of the roof.

Walton said that FesslerUSA received a grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority to help pay for the project, and they are also receiving a special tax credit from the federal government, which will fund about 30 percent of the cost.

FesslerUSA completed a feasibility study to find a way to use space on the 150,000-square-foot roof.

FesslerUSA CEO Walter Meck said the study looked at different options, including wind energy since the company owns 100 acres of land that it could use for turbines, but the test showed there wasn't enough wind to be viable.Free DIY chicken coop Resource!

"Pennsylvania turns out to be a great state to make solar power, although people think places like Florida would be better," Meck said. "ETAC (Emerging Technology Applications Center) from Northampton Community College said that heat decreases the efficiency of solar panels, making our climate perfect for solar panels."

Johnstonbaugh confirmed that the panels perform best under cool conditions.

Walton said that since the company is in the highly competitive global apparel market, the panels will help improve efficiency.

With FesslerUSA generating 450,000 kWh a year,The Leading Wholesale pet supplies Distributor to Independent Pet Retailers. it's producing enough energy to power 38 to 50 homes for a year, or about half of the facility's current energy usage, saving about $49,We also offer customized zentai suits.500 a year.

"We look at sustainability and solar power as one step toward the future," Meck said.

The progress of the project is updated with photos daily on the FesslerUSA Facebook page.

Although the project at Sterman Masser Potato Farms is complete and the system is producing energy, Keith Masser, chairman and CEO of Sterman Masser Inc., said a problem with owning a solar energy system is that the price of solar credits - energy incentives and rebates - in the state has plummeted.

Johnstonbaugh said that for every 1,000 kWh of production, the system qualifies for one credit, which are marketable to electric companies such as PPL.

He said that credits can be sold to the public electric utilities to help them meet state requirements for the production of electricity from alternative energy sources. The utilities can meet these requirements by either building their own solar systems or buying credits from private producers like Sterman Masser or FesslerUSA.

By installing these systems, the workload by the utilities is also reduced, allowing them to forego future investments in upgrading their system since there will be less wear and tear on it.

Since last year, credits have fallen by as much as 75 percent, which shrinks the income-producing potential of solar projects.

"Large project owners had calculated in their business planning somewhat higher prices for the project to help pay for investment," Johnstonbaugh said.

Developers in Pennsylvania are now getting $80 to $100 per credit, roughly 8 to 10 cents per kWh, while in New Jersey, the price per credit is $650.

"The payback is not what we set out to be," Masser said. "They aren't paying for themselves anymore. We aren't getting value from solar renewable energy credits anymore."

Masser said that with the system generating 10 cents per kWh, after six days it generated $363.43, which doesn't pay the debt load on the $5 million project.

Another problem Masser sees with solar energy projects in Pennsylvania lies with state grant money. He said that during construction, grant money gets wasted because the developer is locked into the prevailing wage, the hourly wage established by the Department of Labor and Industries, with the company constructing the system.

"For any electrical work completed not using a union electrician, they are still obligated to pay at the rate of the union electrician rate," Johnstonbaugh said. "If using a crane operator, or whatever trade, they would be obligated to pay the prevailing wage, which will drive up the cost."

Although Sterman Masser Potato Farms and FesslerUSA were able to complete their plans to harness solar energy in the county, not all plans have been successful.Complete Your sculpture Magazine Collection for Less!

Theresa Elliott from the Department of Community and Economic Development press office said all funds for solar energy programs have been exhausted, which Johnstonbaugh said was a one-time bond issue.

"Once the funds were spent,uy Aion Kinah direct from us at low prices that was the end of the program, unless some legislative action is taken," Johnstonbaugh said.

He also said that some companies such as PPL put money aside, about $1 per watt, to support solar projects.

Mahanoy City's Citizens Fire Company No. 2 planned a $236,090 solar project that failed to come to fruition. It would have created a 39-kilowatt rooftop system generating 48,000 kWh of energy annually and could have saved nearly $6,000 in energy costs each year.

"PPL said they exhausted all their money so we were told to reapply," said Harry Wagner, Citizens president.

Another Sacramento project, which was scheduled to be the third-largest solar energy producer in Pennsylvania, is also "dead in the water" due to a lack of state funding, according to one of its developers, Robert Klinger, of Beil Energy LLC, Pottsville.

The project was planned to create a 2-megawatt solar farm on 10 acres at 44 Walnut Lane in Hubley Township.

Klinger, who owns the property, had been working on the development of the $10.2 million project with Neil Schenck, a partner in Beil Energy LLC, for five years.

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