Spotlight to shine on solar energy

Solar energy in northwest Ohio is in the spotlight this week, as Green Energy Ohio hosts its second statewide seminar on large solar arrays Thursday in Bowling Green. In advance of the seminar, the nonprofit organization that focuses on renewable energy released a study Tuesday of the 25 largest grid-tied solar arrays, plus a first-ever county-by-county survey of solar photovoltaic installations. At the top of the list is a new 20 megawatt solar field in Bowling Green scheduled to be connected with the city’s 69 kilovolt electric transmission line by the end of the year. The project surpasses the 12 MW capacity of Wyandot Solar Farm in Wyandot County by Public Service Enterprise Group, which began operations in August 2010 and had been the largest array in the Ohio. The Bowling Green project is a partnership among the city, American Municipal Power and Next Era Energy Resources. Because of the large project Green Energy Ohio is planning its second Ohio solar conference in Bowling Green Thursday. Green Energy Ohio is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmentally and economically sustainable energy policies and practices in Ohio, and the Ohio chapter of the American Solar Energy Society. Building Big Solar Across Ohio is set for 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Thursday at Stone Ridge Golf Club, 1553 Muirfield Drive, Bowling Green. Advanced registration is due Monday. For details about 21 speakers and 11 sponsors and exhibitors, visit www.greenenergyohio.org or call (614) 985-6131. “It’s fitting that the city of Bowling Green and its municipal utility are hosting the conference with the support of the Bowling Green and Toledo regional chambers of commerce,” said Bill Spratley, GEO executive director. “Back in May 2005, GEO awarded its first Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year recognizing the city of Bowling Green and the Wood County commissioners for their support of Ohio’s first utility-scale wind farm in 2004.” The four 1.8 MW wind turbines continue to power more than 2,000 homes. “Very large and commercial-size solar electric systems are rapidly rising up across Ohio,” Spratley said. “And Ohio’s first community solar projects are moving forward.” The conference also is to highlight municipal power solar installations at Minster (4.3 MW) and Clyde (3.6 MW), as well projects by county governments and rural electric cooperatives. Since GEO’s solar conference in March 2015, Spratley said three utility-scale solar arrays in Minster, Clyde and Toledo have been added to the organization’s list of 25 largest solar arrays. Bowling Green By the end of December, a new 20 MW solar field is scheduled to be operational and interconnected with Bowling Green’s 69 kilovolt electric transmission line. Information about the project to construct Ohio’s largest solar array was provided by Daryl Stockburger, assistant director of utilities for Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, for GEO News Magazine. Stockburger was recipient of the GEO 2003 Pioneer of the Year Award for his work to install Ohio’s first utility-scale wind turbines near Bowling Green. The project is an agreement between NextEra Energy and American Municipal Power, formally known as DG AMP Solar LLC. Although the site is to be the largest of its kind in Ohio, Stockburger said “it is only the single largest piece of the picture, as DG AMP Solar will construct up to 26 solar fields across Ohio and several surrounding states.” The solar sites are part of a single cooperative venture totaling 60-80 MW of solar power for participating AMP member communities. Bowling Green has leased 165 acres of land to DG AMP Solar and agreed to purchase electric output from a 13.74 MW share of the project. On average, every electric customer in Bowling Green would receive 4.5 percent of annual electricity from solar power starting in 2017. Combining all renewable energy sources including hydroelectric, wind and solar, Stockburger said renewable energy will provide BG customers with about 38 percent of their electrical use. The city of Bowling Green (population 31,802) has owned its electric distribution system since 1942, and is one of the largest municipal electric systems in Ohio, serving more than 14,500 customers. Clyde The sixth-largest solar array in Ohio began operating in Clyde in June. “The 3.66 MW array situated near the Clyde Wastewater Treatment Plant tracks the sun on a single axis and is named the Clyde Solar Energy Center,” said Joel Jansen, chief operating officer for AEP OnSite Partners, in GEO News Magazine. The 12,000 PV panels are expected to generate more than 5 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. After looking at solar energy since 2011, Jansen said the project happened when AEP OnSite Partners and the city worked together. AEP owns and operates the system, while Clyde is to purchase all of the power produced in a 20-year power purchase agreement. AEP leases 20 acres of land from the city. Jansen said Clyde also owns stakes in hydroelectric plants along the Ohio River and a power purchase agreement with a wind farm in northwest Ohio, as well as coal and gas generation plants. Minster No. 4 on the top-25 list is a 4.3 MW array in Minster, which is coupled with an energy storage facility. David Dwyer of American Renewable Energy said in GEO New Magazine the array covers 18 acres and is expected to provide about 13 percent of the village’s electrical needs, or about 5,500 megawatt hours a year. It went online in December 2015. The PureWave SMS storage management system was supplied by S&C Electric Co. and is comprised of LG lithium-ion batteries, Dwyer said. The system is designed to allow Minster’s municipal electric system to reduce its peak demand charges and reduce spot market risk. Owens Corning The eighth largest solar system in Ohio is a 2.4 MW array at Owens Corning headquarters in downtown Toledo. “The array is seated atop 32 rows of canopies covering the 935 spaces in the 9.5-acre parking lot of the facility, and is the largest solar canopy installation in Ohio,” said Frank O’Brien-Bernini, vice president and chief sustainability officer at Owens Corning in GEO News Magazine. The array is expected to generate 3 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to meet about 30 percent of the power needs of the headquarters. The array is equipped with two electric vehicle charging stations, which can charge up to four vehicles at a time. Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp., owns, operates and maintains the array, and sells the energy to Owens Corning under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The project is Owens Corning’s second solar project with Constellation, O’Brien-Bernini said. The first was a 2.7 MW array installed at an insulation manufacturing plant in Delmar, New York. “This array supports Owens Corning increased goal of greenhouse gas reduction to 50 percent of its 2010 baseline (by 2020),” he said. Hancock-Wood Electric Although not on such a large scale, a project announced last week by Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative is expected to generate 100 KW of electricity for 11,000 member owners in northwest Ohio. Ground is to be broken at 2 p.m. Friday on its OurSolar community solar array, according to a news release from the cooperative. The array is to contain 300 panels at the northwest corner of US 224 and TR 215, east of Findlay. Each panel is to be 3 feet wide by 6.5 feet long. Funded through Hancock-Wood’s statewide association and maintained by Hancock-Wood, the two-thirds-acre solar station is expected to be in service by early fall. The OurSolar station is one of several being offered by Ohio’s electric cooperatives, but does not represent the only renewable energy for electric co-op distribution. Ohio electric co-ops receive 4.45 MW from four anaerobic digesters at Ohio dairy, pork and poultry operations, 3.2 MW from the Hancock County Landfill methane gas generation facility and 6.4 MW from Suburban Regional Landfill. Also, Hancock-Wood is part of a 55-MW hydroelectric power project from the New York Power Authority, the largest state-owned power organization in the United States with power primarily generated from the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers. To co-op serves portions of Seneca, Hancock, Wood, Allen, Erie, Hardin, Henry, Putnam, Sandusky and Wyandot counties. Members who would like more information about subscribing to OurSolar should visit www.hwe.coop/residential/oursolar-community-solar-project, call (800) 445-4840 or email info@hwe.coop.