Published: Monday, March 30, 2009
County warming to solar power
Small projects are going up around the county, funded in part by donations from PUD customers.
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Michael O'Leary/ The Herald
The parking garage at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center includes solar panels. It is one of several new solar projects sprouting up in Snohomish County this spring.
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South-facing solar panels cover the parking garage at the new Mountlake Terrace Transit Center.
EVERETT — Several small solar electricity projects are sprouting up on the soggy side of the Cascade Range this spring, thanks to electric utility customers who donate money for green energy development.
More than 3,000 Snohomish County PUD customers who participate in the Planet Power green energy program are helping to pay for the projects. They pay a little extra with each utility bill or donate a lump sum to pay for green energy projects and have raised more than $100,000 for projects all across the county.
“We’re investing in real projects that the community can see and feel,” said Steve Klein, PUD’s general manager.
This year, the PUD is moving away from an old practice of using these donations to buy renewable energy credits from faraway wind projects and is instead focusing on funding local solar electricity efforts.
The public utility last week also began offering customers cash incentives and low-interest loans to help offset the cost of installing photovoltaic and solar hot water systems at homes and businesses.
The customer-funded projects are at:
Cedar Wood Elementary School
Snohomish High School
Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream
Mukilteo City Hall
Mount Lake Terrace Transit Center.
Bonneville Environmental Foundation is paying for a similar solar project at Stanwood High School.
The solar projects are relatively small. Community Transit’s solar project in Mount Lake Terrace is the largest. It is expected to generate enough electricity annually to power a typical home for two months.
Each project is located in a highly visible area.
The idea is to help generate excitement about the potential for solar energy generation in an area prone to gloomy weather.
It’s true, solar intensity in Western Washington is weaker than it is in Eastern Washington, as well as vast stretches of the American Southwest, Klein said.
Even so, cloudy Germany gets less sun than Snohomish County, yet it is considered the world’s leader in solar energy production.
That’s largely the result of laws aimed at curbing greenhouse gas output, which force traditional utility companies to subsidize solar startups.
In Washington, Initiative 937, which requires major utilities to derive 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020 is generating interest in the potential of solar power for the region.
David Jones, principal of Cedar Wood Elementary School in Mill Creek, said he expects to have solar panels installed at the school before the end of the school year.
Lessons from the project will be included in Cedar Wood’s curriculum and data collected in real time will be shared with the entire Everett School District.
When the system produces more electricity than the school needs, it will be able to send electricity back to the grid, spinning its utility meter backward.
“I want students to think of solar power as something that is real,” Jones said.
While solar electricity still can’t compete with the region’s relatively cheap hydroelectricity, help from state grants, tax write-offs and PUD incentives are shortening the payback time for solar investments.
A few dozen PUD customers have already expressed interest in the new solar incentive program, according to the utility.
University of California, Merced physicist Roland Winston, a solar energy pioneer whose innovations are used in commercial solar electricity systems, said solar energy isn’t just possible in areas with frequent cloud cover — it’s already being done successfully.
“It’s good to have another backup source, and solar is the most abundant energy resource that we have,” he said.
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429, dchircop@heraldnet.com.
More than 3,000 Snohomish County PUD customers who participate in the Planet Power green energy program are helping to pay for the projects. They pay a little extra with each utility bill or donate a lump sum to pay for green energy projects and have raised more than $100,000 for projects all across the county.
“We’re investing in real projects that the community can see and feel,” said Steve Klein, PUD’s general manager.
This year, the PUD is moving away from an old practice of using these donations to buy renewable energy credits from faraway wind projects and is instead focusing on funding local solar electricity efforts.
The public utility last week also began offering customers cash incentives and low-interest loans to help offset the cost of installing photovoltaic and solar hot water systems at homes and businesses.
The customer-funded projects are at:
Cedar Wood Elementary School
Snohomish High School
Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream
Mukilteo City Hall
Mount Lake Terrace Transit Center.
Bonneville Environmental Foundation is paying for a similar solar project at Stanwood High School.
The solar projects are relatively small. Community Transit’s solar project in Mount Lake Terrace is the largest. It is expected to generate enough electricity annually to power a typical home for two months.
Each project is located in a highly visible area.
The idea is to help generate excitement about the potential for solar energy generation in an area prone to gloomy weather.
It’s true, solar intensity in Western Washington is weaker than it is in Eastern Washington, as well as vast stretches of the American Southwest, Klein said.
Even so, cloudy Germany gets less sun than Snohomish County, yet it is considered the world’s leader in solar energy production.
That’s largely the result of laws aimed at curbing greenhouse gas output, which force traditional utility companies to subsidize solar startups.
In Washington, Initiative 937, which requires major utilities to derive 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020 is generating interest in the potential of solar power for the region.
David Jones, principal of Cedar Wood Elementary School in Mill Creek, said he expects to have solar panels installed at the school before the end of the school year.
Lessons from the project will be included in Cedar Wood’s curriculum and data collected in real time will be shared with the entire Everett School District.
When the system produces more electricity than the school needs, it will be able to send electricity back to the grid, spinning its utility meter backward.
“I want students to think of solar power as something that is real,” Jones said.
While solar electricity still can’t compete with the region’s relatively cheap hydroelectricity, help from state grants, tax write-offs and PUD incentives are shortening the payback time for solar investments.
A few dozen PUD customers have already expressed interest in the new solar incentive program, according to the utility.
University of California, Merced physicist Roland Winston, a solar energy pioneer whose innovations are used in commercial solar electricity systems, said solar energy isn’t just possible in areas with frequent cloud cover — it’s already being done successfully.
“It’s good to have another backup source, and solar is the most abundant energy resource that we have,” he said.
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429, dchircop@heraldnet.com.
Story tags »
• Energy & Resources • PUDOn the Web
For more information on the PUD’s solar programs, including cash incentives, go to:www.snopud.com
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