The system provides over 250 kilowatts of electrical energy during daylight hours to power water system pumps. And the solar panels will eliminate the equivalent of 13 million pounds of carbon dioxide from the environment over the system's 30-year life.
The winter sun shining on the largest water reservoir at the city’s Arbor Road facility isn’t particularly bright this morning, but the sun’s still working for Lakewood. The new solar power system spread over the reservoir roof is helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the city’s dependence on fossil fuel, and the city’s electric bill. “Lakewood’s photovoltaic system has the capacity to produce up to 250 kilowatts of power,” notes Jim Glancy, the city’s director of Water Resources. “But solar panels are now so efficient, that even winter light is enough to be productive.” Bringing up a real-time display of the system’s performance on his computer monitor, Glancy can see that the 1,342 panels of the solar array are generating about 120 kilowatts of power on a gray morning in late December.
The new system was completed in late November 2008, after about six months of design and fabrication. Its power output through December was nearly 17,000 kilowatt hours, despite December’s shorter days and periods of rain. The system’s annual output is estimated to be 400,000 kilowatt hours.
A kilowatt hour is the electrical energy consumed in one hour at the rate of one kilowatt. The average household in the United States uses about 8,900 kilowatts of electricity each year. “This one array produces more than enough energy to run the 300-horse-power pumps that maintain Lakewood’s water system,” Glancy adds. “And the power is available during the day, when electricity from the Edison grid is charged at the highest rates.
At night, we go back on the grid to refill the city reservoirs. But that’s when electrical energy costs are lowest.” (For a closer look at Lakewood’s solar power system, go to www.lakewoodcity.org/greenliving. You can watch CityTV’s video report and link to a fascinating display that shows sunlight being turned into electrical energy.)
Power from the sun has major benefits for the environment. Lakewood’s solar power system will cut the city’s carbon dioxide emissions by more than 425,000 pounds a year. Carbon dioxide is the chief culprit among the gases blamed for climate change.
During the 25-year working life of the solar system, almost 13 million pounds of carbon dioxide won’t go into the air. Emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide – more greenhouse gases that are by-products of a conventional power plant – also will be cut.
Bill Simmons is the vice president of City Light & Power, the company that installed and will operate Lakewood’s solar array. (CL&P also operates the city’s street lighting system.) He notes that Lakewood’s solar panels do more than generate emission-free electrical power.
“The system also protects the city’s water utility from electrical brownouts, like those we had earlier in this decade. We’re also lightening the load on the local electrical grid. That benefits Lakewood residents when peak loads in the summer threaten to overwhelm Edison’s distribution network.” Going solar will free up enough electrical energy to run 50 home air-conditioning systems on hot days.
Financing Lakewood’s system benefitted from a California Solar Initiative program that offers a rebate to the operators of sun- and wind-powered generators. The city will receive about $733,000 in rebates from Edison over the next five years to partially offset the cost of installing the system. And excess energy not used to power the city’s water pumps will benefit Edison’s customers.
“Everyone comes out ahead,” Glancy points out. “The city gets a good deal on power, residents have a more reliable water system, and Edison customers have another source of greenhouse gas-free electricity.”
For city officials, the success of Lakewood’s first solar installation could be the prelude to more “off the grid” innovations to power city facilities, particularly with support from Washington and Sacramento to help Lakewood’s environment get even greener.
Thinking of going solar?
Start with some basic research. Go Solar (www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov) is California’s portal to home energy innovations. Learn about federal tax credits. You can even sign up for a monthly newsletter. Any solar installation is a major construction job. Call the Lakewood Community Development Department (562-866-9771, extension 2300) to discuss Lakewood’s permit requirements and design restrictions.
