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City switching on power of the sun
Solar panels atop City Hall
The installation of solar panels atop City Hall was wrapped up earlier this week, and the network of sun-absorbing panels is already producing energy. A website where residents can monitor the system's output will be launched soon. Posted: Monday, December 19, 2011 4:00 pm | Updated: 10:25 am, Mon Dec 19, 2011.
It's December, and soon Stateline Area lawns will be blanketed in white snow.But, atop the roof of City Hall, it's all green, as last week work wrapped up on an environmentally-friendly, energy-producing network of 125 solar panels.
The project cost about $180,000 and was financed by funds allocated in the city's 2009 and 2011 operating budgets as well as a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, records show.
Carroll Electric, a Janesville-based engineering firm, was awarded the contract by the Beloit City Council in August and began work in November. Andy Hill, a project engineer in the city's Engineering Department, provided the city's main oversight on the project.
Installation was multi-staged and wiring was completed last week. Still ahead is the launch of a community website where citizens can continually monitor the system's real time electric output capacity.
At peak performance, the network is projected to produce about 30 kilowatts. Engineering Department estimates, which were based on projected seasonal weather changes, suggest City Hall's electric bills should be reduced by about 8 to 9 percent, or about $3,182 to $3,437 per year.
"They can actually witness how much energy we're creating," said Beth Jacobsen, assistant to the city manager, who was also involved in the project's development.
When the solar panel project gained approval, personnel in city government referred to the renewable energy project as a "demonstration" that could pay for itself over the long term.
However, based on figures provided by city engineers, it would take about 50 to 60 years for bill savings to total the $180,000 expense. Representatives of Carroll Electric said the systems are designed to last about 40 years.
But money aside, the project is really about promoting the ideas of green technology, those involved have said. If the city takes this initiative and proves it as a viable option, residents around the area may follow suit.
And though there won't be much sun over the long winter months ahead, the system will still produce a base level of electricity. That amount will grow substantially as weather warms. Beloit is just as good a place for solar panels as anywhere else, Hill said.
"Solar panels can be used everywhere, whether they're in the suns of the Arizona desert or up here."
The community website is expected to be launched soon.
The solar panel network is just one element of the city's broader green initiatives, which also include LED traffic signals, improved recycling methods and electronic filing systems for government documents. A partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison is aimed at producing hydrogen energy systems for the city's fleet of vehicles.
An exact timeline on that project has not been set, but work continues to progress, Jacobsen said.
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So, we spend $180,000.00 of taxpayer's money to install 30 kW of panels that will only produce 30 kW for a small portion of every day on a sunny day, and will only last 40 years, with a ROI of at least 60 years - so these "green" panels will never pay for themselves.
No mention is made of how many kWh was burned up - from fossil-fuel power plants - to produce the panels from raw materials. Will they ever produce at least that amount of power?
It does no one good to waste power and money to push "green" technology that uses more power than just using the fossil fuel directly to make electricity.
Don't get me started on wind generators - I still want to see a balance sheet of energy used to create and erect one of these things vs. how much power it will realistically produce over its' life.
LED traffic signals and improved electronic record-keeping are common-sense things - you don't have to call them "green" to make them be useful and intelligent.
Hydrogen power - I still can't see how using electricity generated at maybe 60% efficiency from an internal combustion engine to break down water to O2 and H2, and then burn the H2 in that same engine is anything other than a weak poke at perpetual motion.
Back when I was about 8 years old, I designed an amphibious boat that would run on water - you put water in a tank, ran a current through it to get H2 and O2, then burned them in a gas engine that would drive wheels and propellers, as well as a generator to make the current for the electrolysis cell, and also run compressors to fill tanks with the resulting gases. That's where I first learned about perpetual motion and efficiencies - and the boat ended up becoming a fort in the backyard. It was a hard lesson, but I learned it.
The greenies evidently never got that lesson. It will be bad for us if they succeed in pushing all this "green" power on us, when the realization comes that they have squandered our resources to build castles in the clouds...
I read something about those LEd traffic lights- somewhere up where you are.
ReplyDeleteThey don't make any heat while working, so they don't thaw the snow and ice build-up on the lenses- so people can't see what color is lit.
So they had to go back and add a heating element to those energy efficient lights.
WV= prize
Yep. Classic case of hindsight is 20-20. At least the heater only needs to come on when the temperature goes below freezing.
ReplyDeleteLEDs make sense here - they don't burn out like incandescents, and are cheaper to run - they actually have a reasonable ROI.