Beyond the Experimental Phase
Another California water utility adds solar power to the mix.
“We were looking for innovative alternatives to regular electricity,” explains Greg Morrison, director of legislative and community affairs for the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD), explaining the district’s decision to use solar power.
Located in Riverside County, the EVMWD is a nonprofit public agency responsible for providing public water service and wastewater treatment to Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, Canyon Lake, and other areas of unincorporated Riverside County. Currently, the district oversees 35,000 water, wastewater, and agricultural connections. In describing the district’s decision switch to solar power, Morrison describes two intertwined issues. “The skyrocketing cost of electricity was probably the number one reason,” he says, “and a close number two was the fact that water and wastewater operations are probably one of the largest users or consumers of electricity.”
 |
Photo: Elsinore Water District |
| A solar power installation will provide reliability during a blackout. |
Water treatment and delivery currently account for approximately 3% of the world’s total energy usage. In California, water utilities use more than 19% of the state’s electricity supply to pump and treat water. That usage, says Morrison, comes with an enormous price tag. “Those two items coupled together mean it costs a tremendous amount of money to deliver safe, quality water to our customers and treat the wastewater that comes back to us,” he says. “The main goal of the project was to try and control costs for our customers.”
In order to offset the financial burden of rising energy bills, water utilities often pass the cost to customers or cut back on infrastructure investment. In addition, energy expenses continue to rise just as water supplies diminish and water demand increases. Morrison says the switch to solar will offset some the utilities’ electricity expenses. “We expect to save several million dollars over the lifetime of the project, and we consider that pretty substantial,” he says.
Historically, the high costs associated with solar power installations curtailed widespread use of the technology. As a result, many utilities, including Elsinore, relied entirely on the local electric supplier for their power needs. Recent events, including the 2001 California energy crisis and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, highlighted the vulnerabilities inherent in depending on one power source. For example, rolling blackouts in California often required a total shutdown, adversely affecting a utility’s ability to provide water to its customers. In the face of infrastructure breakdown, the ability to become independent from traditional power sources gained popularity.
“We wanted to provide a little more reliability, especially in California,” states Morrison, explaining the district’s response to the energy crisis. “We’re on one of the most congested grids, and now in instances of blackouts or brownouts, we have the ability to stay operational.”
 |
Photo: Elsinore Water District |
 |
Photo: Elsinore Water District |
| Powerling Corp. helps its customers offset traditional energy usage by converting unused resources, such as rooftops, into additional power sources. |
In the aftermath of the California energy crisis, the landscape changed and solar power emerged as a fiscally responsible alternative. Government incentives, coupled with private sector rebate programs, helped subsidize installation costs. In light of the additional financing support, the time was right for the EVMWD to make the solar switch.
“We actually were very fortunate,” says Morrison, outlining the help the district received. “We got into this project at a time when Southern California Edison was offering a 50% rebate. They actually covered half of the cost of the project, which allows us to recoup our entire cost in nine years.”
Morrison feels optimistic about the utility’s financial future. “We really expect to recover our costs a little quicker than that—maybe six-and-a-half, seven years—because there’s a rising cost of electricity,” he says.
With funding secured, the next step involved finding a partner for the project. After exploring various options, the district chose to work with the Powerlight Corp. Headquartered in Berkeley, CA, the Powerlight Corp. designs and installs grid-connected solar systems and is one of the largest suppliers of solar power equipment in the country. The company’s solar-powered products use proprietary silicon semiconductor technology to convert sunlight directly into electricity. Other solar technology requires the use of an inverter to change the DC power created by solar panels to AC power. In addition to this technology, Powerlight works with its customers to convert unused resources, like rooftops, into additional power sources to offset their traditional electricity usage. By combining low-cost installation of cutting-edge technology with custom-designed panel systems, Powerlight provides a two-prong approach to overcoming past obstacles to solar power: cost and space.
Ed Orrette, an independent sales associate for Powerlight who worked closely with the district on the project, explains how the company came on board. “Powerlight got involved when one of the members of the board of directors went to an Aqua event and learned about Powerlight services,” he says. “The short of the longer story was just that the initiative came from the water district and they just asked Powerlight to get involved.”
Orrette also believes the district presented Powerlight with a perfect opportunity to showcase its products and services. “Lake Elsinore was an excellent example, because you had a receptive board of directors that embraced the ideas. The configuration of what they installed, the available state incentives, and the size of their load all contributed to a system that has a significant impact on their operations and will have a relatively fast payback for an energy project.
“The beauty of these solar power systems,” continues Orrette, “is that they feed into the utility supply that comes into the facility, and the solar power is used before the utility power is used. If the solar power wasn’t there, which it wasn’t a year ago, 100% of their facility would be powered off the utility, and then when the solar power system is installed, whatever is produced by that system is used entirely just within the facility’s distribution the same way that the utility power is used.”
In some cases, solar panels can generate excess power, which can be sold back or credited to the utility. According to Orrette, in order to participate in these incentives, a facility must generate electricity in excess of 1 MW. Elsinore currently uses 100% of the electricity generated by its solar panels. Orrette elaborates on why Elsinore keeps its energy to itself. “Typically with the water districts it doesn’t happen because the pumping loads are so high,” he says. “Just about all the water districts I’ve seen have a pumping requirement that exceeds 1 megawatt. That’s at all times.”
In this way, solar power at Elsinore is mostly relegated to supplementing the district’s use of traditional energy sources. Orrette explains, “Solar power just works to mitigate how much power they have to buy from the utility. It’s just kind of the nature of the business. The solar power system can feed back, but in practical life it doesn’t.”
Currently the district cannot operate independently during a power failure. According to Orrette, the potential exists, but additional steps would be required. California power utilities require automatic disconnection from the grid in the event of a blackout, leaving most water utilities without power.
“The reason for this,” says Orrette, “is if the solar power system continued working, a lineman gets out there to fix the wires and all of the sudden he finds that the wires on the plant side of the pole are live. It’s a precaution to avoid that.”
Another limitation for the Elsinore project was the limited space available for solar panel installation. The solar system designed for Elsinore included panels and the supports along with the two large transformers. Powerlight found a way to install the 57,000 square feet of panels by splitting the installations into separate locales.
“There was no large, contiguous space available,” explains Morrison. “We put together a plan utilizing three different kinds of mounting systems to work together to build the size system they were looking for.”
Spreading out the system of panels over three separate areas allowed Powerlight to adapt to the conditions at Elsinore, proving that limited space does not necessarily foreclose the use of renewable energies. A majority of the solar panels were installed as a flat rooftop system over the maintenance and administration buildings. Additionally, the construction of a new carport on the existing employee parking lot allowed for the installation of seven solar-electric parking systems.
What initially appeared to be a challenge ultimately became an opportunity. Orrette states, “It makes an excellent demonstration site for the three most common varieties of solar power arrays.”
The installations use silicon technology to convert sunlight to electricity. For the carport panels, Powerlight used PowerGuard, a protective technology utilizing lightweight photovoltaic roofing assembly and thermal insulation to guard the carport roofs from UV rays and thermal degradation. The entire project includes 57,000 square feet of solar panels, making it one of the largest municipal solar projects in Riverside County. Operating at peak capacity, the system can provide power equivalent to the electricity used by 750 homes.
Powerlight completed installation of the solar power system at Elsinore in February 2006. So far, everyone agrees the project not only has succeeded in meeting expectations but has a bright future as well.
“We’re extremely pleased with the project so far,” says Morrison. “It’s performing much better than we ever could have anticipated.”
“From my point of view,” says Orrette, “It’s another really excellent example of an installed system to encourage others to adopt the technology. It shows that solar power systems can be unobtrusive; they can add value to your property by shading parking lots; they really don’t take away anything from the physical plant of the site; yet they provide a lot of benefits.”
The parties involved see solar power usage as a viable energy alternative with enormous growth potential. Orrette points to the increased development in the area as one reason for an expansion of the current project at Elsinore.
“It seems like with all the housing construction in the last decade or so, their service areas have expanded; their utility costs have expanded; plus, they have some cash and bonding capability to work with because of all the development fees. It does seem to be a good area.”
Inspired by the early success of the project, Morrison also predicts an expansion of the current project. “Somewhere between the next five and 10 years we will be looking at possibly expanding the project,” he says. “We have a tremendous amount of land in and around our main sewer treatment plant and we’d like to possibly consider expanding and increasing the solar power that we generate by adding more panels out in that area to even further offset the cost of electricity.”
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Ultimately, Orrette sees the Elsinore project as just another step toward a brighter future for large-scale solar power systems. “I often say that when you have one or two systems sprinkled around an area, it’s not going to make any difference, although it may make an economic difference to the person who has it installed. Once you start to have hundreds of these systems around, collectively they are going to make a huge difference on reducing the summertime demand during the warmer parts of the day, which tend to be when the air conditioners are kicking on,” he says.
“We are well beyond the experimental stage,” continues Orrette. “There’s really so many large systems installed now, I don’t think that people need to make the argument that they have to test it to make sure it works. I see it as one of these industries that makes sense individually, but it really starts to make a lot more sense and has an effect on society once it’s adopted on a wide scale.”
January-February 2007
Beyond the Experimental Phase
Another California water utility adds solar power to the mix.
“We were looking for innovative alternatives to regular electricity,” explains Greg Morrison, director of legislative and community affairs for the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD), explaining the district’s decision to use solar power.
Located in Riverside County, the EVMWD is a nonprofit public agency responsible for providing public water service and wastewater treatment to Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, Canyon Lake, and other areas of unincorporated Riverside County. Currently, the district oversees 35,000 water, wastewater, and agricultural connections. In describing the district’s decision switch to solar power, Morrison describes two intertwined issues. “The skyrocketing cost of electricity was probably the number one reason,” he says, “and a close number two was the fact that water and wastewater operations are probably one of the largest users or consumers of electricity.”
|
Photo: Elsinore Water District |
| A solar power installation will provide reliability during a blackout. |
Water treatment and delivery currently account for approximately 3% of the world’s total energy usage. In California, water utilities use more than 19% of the state’s electricity supply to pump and treat water. That usage, says Morrison, comes with an enormous price tag. “Those two items coupled together mean it costs a tremendous amount of money to deliver safe, quality water to our customers and treat the wastewater that comes back to us,” he says. “The main goal of the project was to try and control costs for our customers.”
In order to offset the financial burden of rising energy bills, water utilities often pass the cost to customers or cut back on infrastructure investment. In addition, energy expenses continue to rise just as water supplies diminish and water demand increases. Morrison says the switch to solar will offset some the utilities’ electricity expenses. “We expect to save several million dollars over the lifetime of the project, and we consider that pretty substantial,” he says.
Historically, the high costs associated with solar power installations curtailed widespread use of the technology. As a result, many utilities, including Elsinore, relied entirely on the local electric supplier for their power needs. Recent events, including the 2001 California energy crisis and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, highlighted the vulnerabilities inherent in depending on one power source. For example, rolling blackouts in California often required a total shutdown, adversely affecting a utility’s ability to provide water to its customers. In the face of infrastructure breakdown, the ability to become independent from traditional power sources gained popularity.
“We wanted to provide a little more reliability, especially in California,” states Morrison, explaining the district’s response to the energy crisis. “We’re on one of the most congested grids, and now in instances of blackouts or brownouts, we have the ability to stay operational.”
|
Photo: Elsinore Water District |
|
Photo: Elsinore Water District |
| Powerling Corp. helps its customers offset traditional energy usage by converting unused resources, such as rooftops, into additional power sources. |
In the aftermath of the California energy crisis, the landscape changed and solar power emerged as a fiscally responsible alternative. Government incentives, coupled with private sector rebate programs, helped subsidize installation costs. In light of the additional financing support, the time was right for the EVMWD to make the solar switch.
“We actually were very fortunate,” says Morrison, outlining the help the district received. “We got into this project at a time when Southern California Edison was offering a 50% rebate. They actually covered half of the cost of the project, which allows us to recoup our entire cost in nine years.”
Morrison feels optimistic about the utility’s financial future. “We really expect to recover our costs a little quicker than that—maybe six-and-a-half, seven years—because there’s a rising cost of electricity,” he says.
With funding secured, the next step involved finding a partner for the project. After exploring various options, the district chose to work with the Powerlight Corp. Headquartered in Berkeley, CA, the Powerlight Corp. designs and installs grid-connected solar systems and is one of the largest suppliers of solar power equipment in the country. The company’s solar-powered products use proprietary silicon semiconductor technology to convert sunlight directly into electricity. Other solar technology requires the use of an inverter to change the DC power created by solar panels to AC power. In addition to this technology, Powerlight works with its customers to convert unused resources, like rooftops, into additional power sources to offset their traditional electricity usage. By combining low-cost installation of cutting-edge technology with custom-designed panel systems, Powerlight provides a two-prong approach to overcoming past obstacles to solar power: cost and space.
Ed Orrette, an independent sales associate for Powerlight who worked closely with the district on the project, explains how the company came on board. “Powerlight got involved when one of the members of the board of directors went to an Aqua event and learned about Powerlight services,” he says. “The short of the longer story was just that the initiative came from the water district and they just asked Powerlight to get involved.”
Orrette also believes the district presented Powerlight with a perfect opportunity to showcase its products and services. “Lake Elsinore was an excellent example, because you had a receptive board of directors that embraced the ideas. The configuration of what they installed, the available state incentives, and the size of their load all contributed to a system that has a significant impact on their operations and will have a relatively fast payback for an energy project.
“The beauty of these solar power systems,” continues Orrette, “is that they feed into the utility supply that comes into the facility, and the solar power is used before the utility power is used. If the solar power wasn’t there, which it wasn’t a year ago, 100% of their facility would be powered off the utility, and then when the solar power system is installed, whatever is produced by that system is used entirely just within the facility’s distribution the same way that the utility power is used.”
In some cases, solar panels can generate excess power, which can be sold back or credited to the utility. According to Orrette, in order to participate in these incentives, a facility must generate electricity in excess of 1 MW. Elsinore currently uses 100% of the electricity generated by its solar panels. Orrette elaborates on why Elsinore keeps its energy to itself. “Typically with the water districts it doesn’t happen because the pumping loads are so high,” he says. “Just about all the water districts I’ve seen have a pumping requirement that exceeds 1 megawatt. That’s at all times.”
In this way, solar power at Elsinore is mostly relegated to supplementing the district’s use of traditional energy sources. Orrette explains, “Solar power just works to mitigate how much power they have to buy from the utility. It’s just kind of the nature of the business. The solar power system can feed back, but in practical life it doesn’t.”
Currently the district cannot operate independently during a power failure. According to Orrette, the potential exists, but additional steps would be required. California power utilities require automatic disconnection from the grid in the event of a blackout, leaving most water utilities without power.
“The reason for this,” says Orrette, “is if the solar power system continued working, a lineman gets out there to fix the wires and all of the sudden he finds that the wires on the plant side of the pole are live. It’s a precaution to avoid that.”
Another limitation for the Elsinore project was the limited space available for solar panel installation. The solar system designed for Elsinore included panels and the supports along with the two large transformers. Powerlight found a way to install the 57,000 square feet of panels by splitting the installations into separate locales.
“There was no large, contiguous space available,” explains Morrison. “We put together a plan utilizing three different kinds of mounting systems to work together to build the size system they were looking for.”
Spreading out the system of panels over three separate areas allowed Powerlight to adapt to the conditions at Elsinore, proving that limited space does not necessarily foreclose the use of renewable energies. A majority of the solar panels were installed as a flat rooftop system over the maintenance and administration buildings. Additionally, the construction of a new carport on the existing employee parking lot allowed for the installation of seven solar-electric parking systems.
What initially appeared to be a challenge ultimately became an opportunity. Orrette states, “It makes an excellent demonstration site for the three most common varieties of solar power arrays.”
The installations use silicon technology to convert sunlight to electricity. For the carport panels, Powerlight used PowerGuard, a protective technology utilizing lightweight photovoltaic roofing assembly and thermal insulation to guard the carport roofs from UV rays and thermal degradation. The entire project includes 57,000 square feet of solar panels, making it one of the largest municipal solar projects in Riverside County. Operating at peak capacity, the system can provide power equivalent to the electricity used by 750 homes.
Powerlight completed installation of the solar power system at Elsinore in February 2006. So far, everyone agrees the project not only has succeeded in meeting expectations but has a bright future as well.
“We’re extremely pleased with the project so far,” says Morrison. “It’s performing much better than we ever could have anticipated.”
“From my point of view,” says Orrette, “It’s another really excellent example of an installed system to encourage others to adopt the technology. It shows that solar power systems can be unobtrusive; they can add value to your property by shading parking lots; they really don’t take away anything from the physical plant of the site; yet they provide a lot of benefits.”
The parties involved see solar power usage as a viable energy alternative with enormous growth potential. Orrette points to the increased development in the area as one reason for an expansion of the current project at Elsinore.
“It seems like with all the housing construction in the last decade or so, their service areas have expanded; their utility costs have expanded; plus, they have some cash and bonding capability to work with because of all the development fees. It does seem to be a good area.”
Inspired by the early success of the project, Morrison also predicts an expansion of the current project. “Somewhere between the next five and 10 years we will be looking at possibly expanding the project,” he says. “We have a tremendous amount of land in and around our main sewer treatment plant and we’d like to possibly consider expanding and increasing the solar power that we generate by adding more panels out in that area to even further offset the cost of electricity.”
Ultimately, Orrette sees the Elsinore project as just another step toward a brighter future for large-scale solar power systems. “I often say that when you have one or two systems sprinkled around an area, it’s not going to make any difference, although it may make an economic difference to the person who has it installed. Once you start to have hundreds of these systems around, collectively they are going to make a huge difference on reducing the summertime demand during the warmer parts of the day, which tend to be when the air conditioners are kicking on,” he says.
“We are well beyond the experimental stage,” continues Orrette. “There’s really so many large systems installed now, I don’t think that people need to make the argument that they have to test it to make sure it works. I see it as one of these industries that makes sense individually, but it really starts to make a lot more sense and has an effect on society once it’s adopted on a wide scale.”