Riverside County Gets World's Largest Solar Array

The LA Times reported today that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved a proposed 7,000 acre solar project for Blythe, CA backed by Solar Millennium, a German-based corporation.  The 1 gigawatt installation would be the world's largest solar installation, at the same time effectively doubling the United State's entire solar production potential:

What’s the sunny equivalent of “when it rains, it pours”? Because that’s what’s happening in Southern California, as yet another massive solar plant cleared the permitting process Monday.

This time, it’s the Blythe Solar Power Plant, backed by German company Solar Millennium and planned for more than 7,000 acres in Riverside County. The project would be the largest solar installation in the world, doubling the amount of solar electricity the U.S. can produce.

The Blythe installation is the sixth in recent months to be approved for public land. Several proposed solar plants have been fast-tracked through the permitting process as they race to meet the December deadline for federal stimulus funds. One of those, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, is breaking ground Wednesday near Primm, Nev.

Winning final clearance to start construction from the Bureau of Land Management on Monday, after getting the go-ahead from California authorities last month, makes Blythe the first proposal of its kind to be approved for federal public land.

The installation will deliver 1 gigawatt of power using parabolic trough technology. The process involves curved mirrors that gather the sun’s rays, heating liquid that creates steam to run generators.

The multibillion-dollar Blythe project will consist of four separate, 250-megawatt sections that together would be able to power more than 300,000 average homes -– even up to 750,000 residences by some estimates.

The groundbreaking should happen by the end of the year, Solar Millennium said. But first, the company is in “advanced discussions” with the Department of Energy as it attempts to land $1.9 billion in government debt financing for the first two portions of the project, as several other solar projects have done.

Construction is expected to create more than 1,000 direct jobs, as well as thousands more throughout the supply chain, the company said. Once built, the plant will support nearly 300 permanent jobs.

The project, however, will have its share of impact on the environment. So, to mitigate any potential damage, regulators are requiring that Solar Millenium cough up funding to support more than 8,000 acres of habitat for native species such as the desert tortoise, the Western burrowing owl, the bighorn sheep and the Mojave fringe-toed lizard.

Certainly the announcement is great news, but also sounds a note of caution.  The plant is a great opportunity for the US to deploy solar technology in a large-scale capacity, and will hopefully promote desperately needed economic gains within the region via a green technology. But, the sheer scale of the plant also underscores the impacts all energy production technologies, whether traditionally oriented or renewable, impose upon the surrounding environment.  Each imposes a true physical cost to the landscape that may vary in scope, but does not waver in its lasting impacts. It will be interesting to see what mitigation measures are implemented, and how successful they are in offsetting impacts to habitat in highly sensitive landscapes.  Above all, I guess we can consider the  experiment known as the solar-era officially underway in Southern California, and hope that the promise of renewable energy rings true. 

Clip-on Architecture

(image from Urban Omnibus)

Nice summary article presented on Urban Omnibus called Clip-on Architecture: Reforesting Cities.  It presents a succinct overview of the different systems that exist for greening and revegetating our existing built environment to make them more sustainable.  Overall, none of the strategies are particularly new to most design professionals, but representing them in a public friendly way is always appreciated, and the final graphic (see above) showcasing how the systems could work together in a more holistic fashion is an inspirational gem.  Here the strategies transform from simply 'clip-on' architecture to function more successfully as a comprehensive landscape solution.  Because, ultimately, green efforts matter only in regard to their scale of influence. Site-scale solutions solve site-scale problems while holding a potential to affect larger-scale concerns.  It is by coordinating these smaller interventions that these potential impacts are actualized to realize larger-scale change.  Together multiple site-scale solutions begin to produce a community change that can potentially affect a region and beyond.  Hopefully cities like LA can partner an interest in 'clip-on' solutions with an effective landscape-scale understanding to truly reforest our built environment in a profound way. 

Solar Lease

(image from LA Times)

Despite all the rain this week, the sun will shine once again, and often, in LA.  So, for the solar curious without a large wallet, what cost-effective options exist for residential homeowners?  One new option is to lease solar panels from solar installer SolarCity Corp.  Recently awarded $60 million in new financing from PG&E accordingly to the LA Times, SolarCity offers an extensive lease program designed to make solar installation affordable and cost-beneficial for homeowners.  In essence, homeowners lease the equipment from SolarCity to buy the cheap electricity produced by the solar panels, but avoid any upfront installation costs because SolarCity owns and operates all of the equipment still.  Lease terms generally run for 15 years, with options for transfering, paying out, or taking the panels with you if you move before the term is over.

Still unsure whether leasing makes sense? Dwell Magazine had a great overview of the issues involved in buying or leasing solar panels, including an overview of SolarCity's program.  Ultimately, the article finds that if you want to own your own solar panels, buy them right away.  However, depending on the type of house you own, leasing can be a great option to support renewable energy production, and lower your electric bills by 15% on average.  The article provides this cost scenario supplied by SolarCity spokesman Jonathan Bass:

A typical three-bedroom home with a current electricity bill of $200 per month might lease a 4kW solar system. The new solar system will generate enough electricity to offset what the homeowner is currently paying to the utility company from $200 down to $60 per month. The SolarLease payment would be $0 down and $110 per month, amounting to a savings of $360 in the first year.

The other nice part about leasing? "The lease includes permit, installation, maintenance, a web monitoring system, and guaranteed production," says Bass.  As such, the agreement relies on a service versus an end product model.  Rather than selling consumers a solar panel that they have to maintain and eventually disgard, SolarCity provides the service of solar-powered electricity to consumers, while incurring the material costs.  Ideally, this model not only increases the ability of consumers to use solar-power, but will also motivate more cradle-to-cradle thinking in panel design to reduce the material cost for SolarCity and increase their profits. (See the great book "Natural Capitalism" for a great discussion of the potential benefits of this model)

SolarCity's Solar Calculator provides a great place to get an estimate on how much money you might be able to save with their lease program.  Of course every home will vary in how cost-effective this program will be, and factors such as roof slope and age will affect the overall lease cost, so be sure to do your homework.