Solar farm sees the sunny side

Solar panels to generate electricity have never been more affordable. Blamed in part by overproduction in China, the global glut of solar panels is expected to drive prices even lower in 2017. That comes at the same time that evidence continues to grow about the negative consequences of climate change resulting from emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. According to NASA, 10 of the hottest years in recorded history have been in the past 12 years.

Northwest Arkansas has more residential solar installations than anywhere else in the state, and now is also home to the first utility-scale, member-owned solar generation facility.

While local customers of Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp. have protested the co-op’s continued lobbying in favor of producing electricity by burning coal, another co-op in the region, Ozark Electric Cooperative in Fayetteville, has opened a solar farm with 4,080 solar panels that will produce more than two million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power up to 150-200 homes.

Even on a cloudy day, the facility produces 200 kilowatts of power. 

“It is really amazing,” Faith Shah said. “It is all ground mounts and is set up in a zig-zag pattern with the panels facing the sun. On the other side of it you have really bright reflectors that help the panels produce even more power.”

Shah and her husband, Michael, have installed solar panels at their home in rural Carroll County that produce more power than the couple uses.

“Solar is cheaper in the long run,” she said. “We started installing panels three years ago. There is no maintenance other than washing once a year. They pump out the kilowatts, and will pay for themselves in less than 10 years. They will significantly reduce our personal carbon footprint, which is worth more than money to us.”

Ozarks Cooperative members who want to support alternative energy, but don’t have the right budget or sunlight available to do rooftop solar, can now purchase energy from the new solar farm through Ozarks Natural Energy, a low-cost alternative to rooftop solar installations where members purchase shares of the facility’s output. Participating members receive a monthly credit on their electric bill for the energy produced by each purchased share. As electric rates change, members’ credits will change as well.

Ozark Electric touts the project as offering members an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of renewable energy without the cost and difficulty of purchasing, installing and maintaining solar panels.

“The beauty of this offering is that our members can capitalize on the economic efficiencies of a utility-scale project,” said Troy Scarbrough, vice president of engineering and operations at Ozarks Electric. “This project will also be a wonderful educational tool for our cooperative.”

Ozarks Electric prides itself on being good environmental stewards, Mitchell Johnson, Ozarks Electric President/CEO, said. “This facility is yet another example of our commitment to bringing our members services that make a positive and significant impact on the communities we serve.”

“We were the first cooperative in Arkansas to set up a residential solar generation facility,” said Penny Storms, manager of media/public relations for Ozark Electric Cooperative. “Shortly after we finished construction, several other electric cooperative in Arkansas started building or looking into building a residential solar generation facility.”

Storms said the environmental benefits of the facility are significant. The facility is expected to offset more than 43,000 tons of CO₂ emissions over its lifetime. Annually, the facility will reduce the equivalent of the amount of greenhouse emissions that 319 average cars would produce in a year. It would take more than 1,200 acres of U.S. forest to reduce the same amount of CO₂ in a year.

“There are no moving parts and nothing to spend a lot of time to maintain,” Storms said. “Ideally, you set the panels up and let the sun take care of the rest. You do need to check the inverters to make sure they are working property and clean the panels once a year.”

Shah recalls earlier protesting the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Corp., the parent company of the electric cooperatives, sending out mailers asking members protest the EPA raising rates for electricity. Shah considered that false information, as EPA doesn’t set rates. The co-ops were asking members to write EPA opposing stronger emission standards for coal-fired power plants.

“I think they are missing out not only on an environmentally safer way to produce electricity, I think they are also missing out on money makers and job producers,” Shah said. “There are more jobs in renewable energy. And once you put up a solar farm, there is negligible maintenance, whereas everything about coal is wasteful and dirty. It destroys the environment where it is mined, it has to be transported long distances, it produces mercury as well as other dangerous pollutants when burned, and then there is water pollution from the storage of coal ash.”

Shah said another advantage is that solar facilities can be placed close to where the power is used, which can reduce the need for new power transmission lines. She advocates that SWEPCO use 30 acres purchased on the Kings River for a 345 kV transmission line substation be used for a solar farm now that plans for the transmission line have been abandoned.