Whidbey’s solar P-patch

FREELAND — During a dedication of solar panels on Whidbey Island this week, the sun came out.

The “rain shadow” that creates sunny days on the central and northern parts of the island is one of the reasons why a group of investors believes the prospects for their solar venture are bright.

The group members have formed a company called Island Community Solar and have put up $210,000 to install 132 panels at the Greenbank Farm, a historic tourist attraction on central Whidbey. They’ve reached an agreement with Puget Sound Energy to sell the power from the solar panels to the utility.

The group is expecting to receive a federal grant for $63,000, nearly a third of the initial construction costs. With 7½ cents per kilowatt hour from Puget Sound Energy and a $1.08 per kilowatt hour rebate from the state, they figure to recoup their investment in six to eight years, said John Hastings of Freeland, president of Island Community Solar.

“We will have paid for the system and the partners will make a small profit,” he said.

Members of the group, 23 in all, put up between $10,000 and $25,000 each and will receive a proportional return on their investment.

The group is leasing the property from the Port of Coupeville, the owner of Greenbank Farm, for $200 per year plus 1 percent of gross receipts, Hastings said.

The lease runs until mid-2020, he said. At that point, the group could renew its lease, sell the solar panels to the port or sell them to a third party, Hastings said.

The port could use the panels to power the 107-year-old Greenbank Farm. If the 1-acre parcel is built out with 10 more rows of panels, it could provide 80 percent of the farm’s needs, Hastings said.

The panels began producing power in late June, with a dedication ceremony June 13. They’re arranged in two rows, called arrays, of 66 panels apiece. At their peak, the panels are capable of generating about 4,600 watts at any one time, said Paul Dickerson, a member of Island Community Solar and a project manager for Whidbey Sun and Wind, the company that installed the panels. The panels were made by Silicon Energy of Marysville.

At an average, they’re expected to produce about 150 kilowatt-hours per day, enough to power four or five homes, he said.

Though southern climates are sunnier, solar panels work more efficiently in cooler temperatures, Dickerson said.

“Cool and sunny is perfect for solar,” he said.

Anyone interested in developing the remaining space can either put up the minimum $10,000 to join forces with Island Community Solar or invest on their own, Hastings said.

The group is already planning its next set of panels, he said.

For those going on their own, there’s no minimum number of panels, but economies of scale make building more panels more efficient, he said.

The group refers to its venture as a “solar P-patch,” a community farm — but one that harvests solar power rather than vegetables. Hastings said he doesn’t know of anyone else who’s doing a solar venture structured quite the same way.

“This is farming the sun and harvesting the sun and thinking about the future,” said Andy Wappler, a spokesman for Puget Sound Energy and former KIRO-TV weatherman who attended the event.

Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.

More info

For more information, contact Island Community Solar at tinyurl.com/658jp37.