UTILITY TO BUILD SMALL SOLAR IN LAND OF BIG SUN

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has in recent months been caught in an interesting bind. Seeing huge energy demand increases coming, it laid plans to develop solar power plants and new transmission in sun-drenched San Diego-region deserts, only to meet tremendous opposition from environmentalists for the impacts such big generation inevitably must have. (See HUGE SOCAL POWER PLANT NEEDS NEW TRANSMISSION

SDG&E will bow to community pressure and put plans for big solar power plants and the associated Sunrise Powerlink transmission system on the back burner. The utility has announced a program of distributed generation development. The small system initiative is expected to provide SDG&E with 52 megawatts of solar energy-generated electricity by 2013.

The California Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) requires SDG&E to obtain 20% of its power (500 megawatts) from New Energy sources by 2010. How the utility will be able to do that without developing large solar power plants and new transmission remains to be explained.

Southern California Edison (SCE) in Los Angeles is developing a similar distributed generation initiative but will also build large solar power plants in the Mojave Desert and is planning new transmission.

Gil Alexander, spokesman, SCE: “One of the challenges that all of California faces with regard to renewable energy is that the renewable energy resources are all in remote areas like the desert and the users are all in urban areas…The solution is transmission…But transmission is a challenge because then you meet community resistance saying, 'We don't want you to build towers in my backyard.' ”

Environmentalists argue utilities have the capacity to create enough distributed generation to meet RES requirements if they would make the commitment.

Bill Powers, environmental activist, local engineering consultant: “I like what they're doing…I'd like them to do 20 times as much in the same time frame.”

There is longstanding failure to communicate between engineers, economists and environmentalists. Engineers are only concerned with whether something can be done. Economists are concerned with whether it can be done affordably. Environmentalists are frequently not concerned as much with whether something can be done as they are with whether it will do environmental harm if it is done.

In order to keep the lights on in a community, a utility must find a way to do something, do it affordably and do it without causing harm.

As global climate change worsens and demand for New Energy grows, it will be interesting to see how utilities triangulate.

From the innovation file: SDG&E’s first installation in its distributed generation initiative will use 12-foot-high Kyocera solar “trees” whose solar panels will shade parking below them. The panels will have tracking capability to maximize output.

A 25-tree installation at the San Diego Kyocera headquarters without tracking capability has a 235 kilowatt capacity.

Tracking capability will up solar energy-generated production 40% and, more importantly, will up production at 4 P.M., when summer demand peaks, by 65%.

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Small solar projects planned by SDG&E; $250 million initiative to start with UTC mall
Bruce V. Bigelow, July 12, 2008 (San Diego Union-Tribune)

WHO
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) (Debra Reed, President/CEO; Mike Niggli, COO);

WHAT
SDG&E will put plans for solar power plants and the Sunrise Powerlink transmission system on the back burner and begin development of distributed generation form small, building, parking lot and vacant lot solar systems.

click to enlarge

WHEN
- The SDG&E small system initiative will be produce 52 megawatts of solar energy and be developed from 2008 to 2013.
- California’s RES requires SDG&E to obtain approximately 500 megawatts of power from New Energy sources by 2010.
- The first installation in the new initiative is expected to be operational in 2009.

WHERE
- The SDG&E small systems will be atop parking lots, closed landfills and land not suited for development. SDG&E is evaluating the solar potential of other utility-owned properties, shopping malls, parking lots and other sites.
- The plan is the result of months of meetings with community and environmental leaders.
- The first SDG&E small system will be at San Diego’s University Towne Centre Mall.
- SDG&E is negotiating with the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, Santee and Carlsbad for its next installations.
- The Sunrise Powerlink transmission system is designed to deliver solar energy generated by solar power plants in California’s Imperial Valley over 150 miles to San Diego. It must transit the highly treasured Anza Borrego Desert.

WHY
- SDG&E's solar rooftop initiative will provide 52 megawatts at a cost of $250 million.
- SCE’s solar rooftop initiative will be spread over 125 large commercial rooftops, a 2-square mile LA area, and generate 250 megawatts.
- 2/3 of the SDG&E initiative systems will be owned by the utility and 1/3 will be owned by customers or 3rd-party energy producers.
- Initial costs for the SDG&E solar projects are expected to be $4,000 to $7,000/kilowatt and decline as economies of scale kick in.

The solar tree: Artistic - but kilowatts for a state that needs gigawatts. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Debra Reed, President/CEO, SDG&E: “We've met with over 60 organizations…and we've heard you.”
- Michael Peevey, president, California Public Utilities Commission: “I'm not in a position to specifically endorse it…But I am particularly enthusiastic about the concept and about the cultural shift that it represents.”
- Mike Niggli, COO, SDG&E, on the way the utility’s initiative will drive solar installation prices down: “[Other buyers] can piggyback on our installations to get the benefit of lower costs…”