Chestertown’s waste water facility on John Hanson Road could host 6,720 solar panels that generate 1.58 Megawatts of power–enough to power the treatment plant and all of the town’s public facilities, according to Rob Busler of Standard Solar. In a presentation to the town council on Monday night, Bussler laid out options for the town to adopt solar energy. Rock Hall, Worton, and Kennedyville plan to have solar fields in operation by the middle of next year.
The town has two options to acquire a solar field, a Power Purchase Agreement or an outright purchase.
A Power Purchase Agreement is where a developer/operator would be granted the land on John Hanson Road to construct and operate the solar field at no cost to the town. The solar field operator would be responsible for maintenance of the solar field and to sell electricity to the town at an agreed upon price over 20 years–at below market rates. The savings would start immediately. Busler estimated the town would save $40,000 on electricity in the first year, and $2.5 million over the 20-year agreement.
“The savings are lower than an outright purchase, but the risk is all on the developer,” Busler said.
An outright purchase would require roughly $7 million up front and put greater responsibility on the town for operation and maintenance of the solar field, but the savings could be around $5 million over 20 years–twice the savings of a PPA, according to Busler.
Rock Hall, Worton, and Kennedyville have entered into PPA agreements for their solar fields.
Chestertown Town Manager Bill Ingersoll proposed that Busler do the preliminary consulting work for the town to help determine the best option. The council passed a motion in agreement.
I think what Mr. Menefee meant to write was that a PPA could generate an estimated “$2.5 million” in savings for the town over the course of the 20-year agreement. Otherwise, this is a solid report.
And why wouldn’t we do this? What a great idea!
“Solar field”……………Interesting!
Sounds like a crop operation. Wonder how the numbers would work out operating a local agriculture field? Consider 100 acres over twenty years that are operated in corn, wheat and soybeans. What are those costs and profits?
How would that same 100 acres do as a solar field?
Interesting!
Joe
Exactly Mr. Cunningham, I forgot to write “million.” I boo-boo now and then; I’ve made the correction.
I believe that solar generated electricity is free of carbon output and does not result in toxic chemical leaching into streams. A win-win for any where on the Eastern Shore with a mile or so of a waterway.
Jack,
You correctly cite the good things.
What I have been unable to discover is break even day. I find that we can expect about two hundred and a little bit of sunny days per year. The graph of these days looks like your electric bill if you use your AC all summer. The system is down about a third of the time here; no sun.
It seems like the quality and ease of installation of these panels is getting better as their costs go down. Still I find the cost per kilowatt hour swings from about four bucks to about eight………..without reference to where the systems are installed…just their manufacturer.
I am now looking for info on service life / cost until replacement is needed. How long to they work???? Twenty years? Less? How long?
During their service life is there ever a time when, after these units are paid for, do they meet all local needs and start selling power back to the electric grid?
I am just starting to look at this………….for sure we don’t need the coal trains back. Atom smashing has not worked as advertised. Solar could be good if the geese don’t block the sun as they used to do.
Joe
Solar is FANTASTIC! I love my panels. My panels got turned on Nov 2009. To date I have generated 13,979 kWh. My system is small and on my roof – estimated to produce 1/4 of my annual electricity usages. And it is right on the mark! I thought the same as you at first, how would they produce in the winter months vs. summer months. Amazingly enough, and an electrician can explain this better, the panels do fine in the short Cold winter days. Something about the electrons and such move faster in the cold and slow down in the heat. My best months are in the spring, when days are lengthening and still cool. Throw in the solar incentives and my system will be completely paid for in the next 5 years. Not bad considering the panels have Warranted production for 25 years.
Have you ever heard of the disease Seasonal Affective Disorder? The days get short, dark and cold and it makes folks depressed. Well, you should be warned. Solar panels come with thier own disease – Solar Panel Affective Disorder. Folks with solar energy are very happy campers on bright sunny days. Clouds can bring bouts of tears, great dismay, and depression. It is recommended that those who suffer from SPAD carry a copy of their pre-solar electric bill with them at all times, you know, just in case a cloud rolls by……..and learn the lyrics to that song , “the sun will come out tomorrow”.
I dont spill, I dont drill,
I dont frack, I dont crack.
I dont subsidize terrorist
from Exxon or Iraq.
I missed a bunch of your questions – I was typing so fast. System is warranted for 25 years. My manufacturer is Sunpower out of California. The panels hook into the inverter, which may need a replacement between 12-15 years. The inverter converts the DC to AC and feeds the electricity directly to the power grid. Delmarva Power had to come out and give me a new meter, one that can spin backwards – That is a sight to behold! The installer was a company from the other side of the Bridge. They hooked it all up, got the county permits and approvals, organized the flipping of our switch to the grid with delmarva. I wrote a check – it was that easy. They filled all my state forms for reselling the electricity and found me a group to join to get my SREC funds as well. That is the cap and trade income that I get. Once a year I get my SREC income. And I get to save money every month on my electric bill. I have online access to my data of Kwh production by day, month, year and will gladly share. My company, sunpower, has panels that the owners made back in the 70′s before there even was a “sunpower company” those panels are said to still be producing electricity today, but at about 80% of the production during thier first 25 years. There are no moving parts really, they just sit there, absorbing the rays. Hope it helps! Shine Baby Shine!
Hmmmmmmmm!
So if you quadrupled your system you would be off the grid = no electric bill & system paid in five years?
And if you did a factor of ten you would be getting a check each month as your meter runs backward?
SREC FUNDS?
Looking more shiny all the time!
Thanks,
Joe
I love mine too! I believe Lainey has good numbers. The concept is not to take you completely off the grid, but rather to reduce your demand for the grid to reduce the number of peak day time users of the grid and thus reducing the need to fire up auxillary power plants that tend to be older, more expensive to operate per kilowatt hour and pollute more. Also, there are less recurring costs because, as Lainey indicates, panels are reliable (25 year warranty) as are the transmission electronics (15 year warranty). AND NO CARBON EMISSIONS. Put it this way, less growth in the cost of 25 percent of your electricity plus no pollution.
While they do not produce electricity at night, in hot hot weather and on cloudy days, the overall effect of reducing demand on the grid the rest of the peak times has great benefits. In Germany, they have created a horizontal integration approach where everyone contributes by deploying solar broadly. And you always have the grid as a backup. Remember, none of this would be permitted to go on if Big Power did not think it served its interests (which explains why you don’t make much when you “sell” it back to DPL).
The upfront costs are offset by the tax benefits and there are companies that will sell you the energy off their panels on your property and you avoid the upfront cost outlay, but enjoy the price protection of solar.
The real critical push is to require that larger consumers of daytime electricity make the move to solar. Hospitals, schools, and factories are all examples. I know that Talbot County is going this way. So is Kent County Public Schools. Now the town. University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Chesapeake College.
The odd man out is the QA Planning Commission, which was (and may still be) considering restricting solar. Hopefully the QA Commissioners can clean house there and put progressive thinkers on board instead of more “anti’s”.
You can tell the long-term thinkers about individual living, business, education and government sustainability from the rest by their commitment to solar energy.
Now if I can only break the pick up truck habit. Maybe if they can master electrifying it.
Thanks guys…I’m getting a picture.
I first noticed solar in the Carter years when there was a tax break for installing current tech. Then Jimmy and the tax breaks disappeared…who knew?
No, as the end of the world as we know it approaches all these alternatives start looking good again.
So ya think solar will augment other power consumption reduction plans?
I am aware of an electric company program………diesel during the day…….to keep high users off the grid in summer. Ice producers and chicken houses get a deal to switch to their own generators and buy cheap electricity at night. But these solar rigs could dim diminish the bill without eliminating the need for the power company…..Hmmmm!
A winter ago they got my interest with a $800.00 @ one month heating bill for a small cottage. They wouldn’t even consider checking the meter or examining anything….”prices go up”……read “freeze in the dark.” The term vote with your feet came to mind.
So maybe pay electric bill + property tax + cover the cost of a new pick up every few years is all that is possible?
Like to hear why QA would not jamb solar on every school roof in Christendom,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,their housing construction boom isn’t going so well.
The beat goes on!
Joe
One reason QAC has not gone solar is they dont have any money. You can only invest funds you have. We overspent on things like the 1.2 million dollar “Sause house” when the property was appraised at 200-300 k.
Maryland law will has already protected those wishing to go green, so the county really cant do alot to stop it. The only way you can prevent solar from coming to a neighborhood near you is to be in a historic district. No historic district restriction, and the “authorities” must pound sand. Trust me, my HOA president tried to say mine were a liability to my community. As if a panel will fly off my roof and strike him in the head! I told him to pound sand!! It was so much fun! Additionally, you cannot be taxed on the increased value of your property by the solar installation! Win Win. Dump 30 k in an inground pool, the tax man will cometh. Put it on your roof, save money, invest in our countrys economic and security future, Get back some SREC Income. Life is good.
And as Jack said, I dont want to be completely off grid. I want to supplement the grid.
Now for SREC income. Have you ever heard our congressman rant and rave over CAP and TAX? It is honestly called Cap and Trade, but Andy doesnt see it that way. Cap and Tax gave little old me a seat at the big energy table with OPEC and Exxon. Cap is power companies must “cap” the traditional sources of energy and are now required to incorporate 2% of total energy from renewable sources. A measly 2%. Trade is the part where they are legally required to either install thier own renewable systems or buy mine. Poor Constellation executives, I must have taken that evil cap and tax money right out of thier pockets.
I dont call this system cap and tax, I call it Ka-Ching! Thats the sound it makes in my pocket. I invested in energy. I could have put that money in the stockmarket I guess. But somehow I think that money is way safer sitting on top of my roof.
I dont understand why everyone isnt installing solar. I mean, seriously, somebody show me the downside.
Yes you did see solar in the Carter years. On the White House roof. Another little energy factoid to stew on, during the Reagan years, we relaxed fuel efficiency standards on vehicles. Suddenly cars that previously got outstanding mileage starting reverting to less efficiency. Car prices did not drop, yet fuel efficiency makes cars cost more or so the manufacturers tells us. They also told us they couldnt make electric cars, but GM did and then they yanked them off the streets and destroyed them……kinda makes you say hmmmmmm.
I say invest in solar, why rent when you can own. Renting is not economically feasible if you can afford to make the investment.
Lainey. The situation is QAC was that Planning Commission members were hostile to private investment in solar. My understanding is that aesthetics was overriding the environment. Many on that Commission are no growthers who are opposed to anything but green fields. It is the continuing “vision” problem . . . like the train wreck about to happen. My hope is that the current commissioners will clean house there as they are elsewhere. Solar, like jobs, are about the future. It is hard to explain that to people whose futures are short term and are trying to hold onto a past that never existed, except in their minds.
I thought they just wanted to tax it, like they own the sun or something. I dont get that aesthetics argument either. Are roof shingles that attractive that we should not hide thier beauty behind the panel? Are barren fields so attractive as to not line up panels like tourists at the beach? You know, go the beach, not just the pretty people wear bikinis! Folks complain about the aesthetics of the wind turbine at Chesapeake college, yet they dont seem to mind the vision of the cell towers right across the street. Do they like the vision of our soldiers fighting over oil? I guess it is true, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My power bill is a beautiful thing every month now that Ive gone solar.
Thanks guys! I am learning so much!
Especially the part about “not just pretty people wear bikinis!”
You are 100 percent right. Let’s face it . . . pretty views = no growth and no jobs. QAC’s number 1 export is youth for the war effort. That is a result of the prior county administration’s agenda that is still alive and well with Chairman Richardson and his no growth/no jobs agenda. At least we have nice farm fields to look at (even if we are living above a shore-wide plane of toxicity — a super fund site just a few feet down). Time will solve that problem too.
Lainey,
You speak well for a white man…..when my ancestors ran down to the beach we saw European boats coming ashore. If we had known your code we would have shown our HOA flags. We had climax forests that allowed squirrels to escape your acculturation by running from tree to tree to the lands of our neighbor across the Mississippi River without needing to touch ground.
We had solar panels! Sun——leaves——wood—–stored energy——burn wood in winter——plant more trees in spring and fall———-eat deer( who ate tree seeds and deserved to be eaten.) It worked for us for many centuries.
Europeans cut down everything. They paved what they could not sell. We retreated west; should have fought sooner and trusted less!
AND we read your book………”ye shall reap what ye sow!” Silly book,…implies wise people! ………..”…make ye not war, nation against nation but rather, walk in the ways of the Lord…”
White men not read their own book. Europeans arrived in the land of the tree………………..and plundered it!
So here we are.
Joe
Solar panel hard costs are dropping like a rock. They’re mostly made overseas now. Wind is supposed to be trending the same way and is even more feasible for large scale electrical production.
Me, Lainey, speak well for white man because me not man. Me Woman!
To me it is all very simple. Im an accountant.
Debits equal credits.
All things must balance.
For every action, there is a reaction.
we do reap what we sow.
White man forget that he cant preach one thing and do another.
Thank you for your kind words Joe. Now go find a solar installer!
here is a link to mine: http://www.smartsimplesolar.com/
Tell them I sent you – they pay customers for referrals.
They also offer twelve months same as cash financing. I used this, it gave me the time to turn my tax credits into real dollars and pay for the things with no interest expense.
Me do!
And I am not really an indian. But my tribe calls me Chief Bull Shooter. Sometimes I lapse into the persona of a sneaker wearing brave from the land of the great white father across the big waters.
Smart Simple Solar gets the business.
Joe
There is another item in the solar power project that is occurring in Worton that everyone should be aware of: the company that is installing the solar power system is offering rebates to Kent County Public School personnel, as well as to parents of current students of KCPS, on residential solar systems. Here are the particulars:
(b) Standard Solar, Inc. will provide a a Two Hundred and Fifty Dollar ($250.00) per kilowatt rebate for all KCPS personnel towards a residential solar PV installation designed and constructed by Standard Solar, Inc.
(c) Standard Solar, Inc. will provide a One Hundred and Fifty Dollar ($150.00) per kilowatt rebate for parents/guardians of KCPS students towards a residential solar PV installation designed and constructed by Standard Solar, Inc.
(d) Standard Solar, Inc. will provide a Two Hundred and Fifty Dollar ($250.00) donation to Kent County High School for each and every residential solar PV installation designed and constructed by Standard Solar, Inc. at the home of KCPS personnel.
I have no logical argument against it, especially if it saves the town money. However, I drive that road everyday and when I try to visualize it all covered in solar panels it makes me sad. Again, no logical argument against it, just one of the heart.
Beth,
Others must have had the same feelings as the trees came down, This place was dense (climax) forest at one time.
England cut down all their trees by around 1850. There were plenty here.
Joe
Beth says:
“”I have no logical argument against it, especially if it saves the town money. However, I drive that road everyday and when I try to visualize it all covered in solar panels it makes me sad. Again, no logical argument against it, just one of the heart.”"
They should be able to screen it without hurting the output much. They just need a good landscape design.
BTW, I saw somewhere that in some countries they are actually planting trees on farmland. It helps to keep the soil moisture content up and the temps down which increases crop yields.
Intlegliecne and simplicity – easy to understand how you think.