APRIL 8, 2010 ISSUE
Watauga Solar
Local Firm Selected To Pursue Large-Scale Solar Energy Plant on County’s Closed Landfill
Watauga Solar partners Ray Sinclair, left, and Ged Moody, right, are currently conducting a feasibility study to determine the practicality of constructing a 1- to 2-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) power plant at the county’s closed landfill site that will produce solar energy, create opportunities for local investment and ownership and serve as an educational tool for all ages of students and citizens. Photo by Sam Calhoun
Watauga County’s closed landfill, once a symbol of waste and excess, could soon become a symbol of sustainability.
Thanks to a forward-thinking Watauga County Board of Commissioners and a similar thinking local company, Watauga Solar, which built its foundation off the teachings of the ASU Appropriate Technology Department, the county’s closed landfill may soon be the site of a 1- to 2-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) power plant that will produce solar energy, create opportunities for local investment and ownership and serve as an educational tool for all ages of students and citizens.
In February, the commissioners gave the green light to Watauga Solar, comprised of partners Ged Moody and Ray Sinclair, based on a request for qualifications sent out for a public/private partnership for a PV system. Watauga Solar was the only local company to apply.
“The county has been great with all of this. They’ve been open to the idea and very supportive. It was never a question of why do this; it’s always been how do we do this,” Moody said. “Hats off to the county and the community.”
PV Proposal
Watauga Solar’s extensive project presentation, which laid out the project’s goals, vision and challenges, anticipates a PV system between 1 and 2 megawatts can be built on top of the 22-acre closed landfill, a space that would otherwise go unused.
“What makes large PV systems go is being able to find an affordable piece of land that can be leased for long periods of time,” explained Moody. “Landfills and brownfields are perfect sites so as not to tie up green space—you can’t do anything else on landfills. It’s kind of a recycling strategy.”
The size of the system will depend on what landfill topography will allow. According to Moody and Sinclair, a 1.5-megawatt PV system would contain 7,500 200-watt solar panels that would produce roughly 2 million kilowatt hours of electric power annually, or enough energy to power 175 typical homes. Annually, the system would keep about 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“We have the financing and the will to do up to 2 megawatts, though,” said Moody.
The project will be completed at no cost to the county or its citizens. Watauga Solar is financially structured to take advantage of the generous federal and state tax incentives available for renewable energy projects through a tax equity fund prepared to invest in the project.
Watauga Solar will create and sell the energy and renewable energy credits, which can be sold to local utility companies or on the open market. Through the Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy (AIRE), Watauga Solar plans to make investment opportunities available to the public.
“Counties and towns don’t pay taxes, so they can’t access the tax incentives, which are a primary mechanism in solar system financing,” said Moody. “The financial engineering [of solar systems] is as challenging as the technical engineering.
“What also makes these projects financially feasible are the long-term contracts to sell the solar energy and the renewable energy credits,” Moody continued.
The commissioners authorized county staff to negotiate a one-year lease at a nominal fee with Watauga Solar, with the fee for the 10-year lease to be negotiated at the conclusion of the feasibility period, if the project is determined to be viable. According to Watauga County Manager Rocky Nelson, the lease has yet to be finalized.
“Once we know how feasible the project is, then we’ll be able to negotiate the long-term lease,” said Moody. “During the project, the county will have the option to purchase the asset, thus ending the long-term lease agreement, or choose to continue with pre-defined leasing terms.”
Determining Feasibility
Currently, Watauga Solar is conducting an intensive three-part feasibility study on the property; the study is expected to take five to six months. The three parts that make up the feasibility study are an environmental study, a technical study and an economic study.
For the environmental study, Watauga Solar will study the landfill itself, what its cap looks like, if there are any signs of differential settling and what it looks like underneath. Watauga Solar will work with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources to determine if the site is environmentally feasible for the project.
For the technical study, Watauga Solar will study how to tame winds from the north so they don’t blow away the panels, which will face south. The partners will also study how to install the PV system, as holes cannot be dug into the closed landfill; the system will have to sit on top of the landfill, using weight to hold it in place.
For the economic study, the partners will study how to utilize the various—and often confusing—tax incentives that the project will qualify for, as well as study how much sunlight the landfill site actually receives. A difference in 30 minutes of sunlight daily, said Sinclair, can make a huge impact on power production.
According to Moody, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory provides solar data for many regions of the country. The only problem is that Boone is not one of those regions—specifically, that is. Moody said Boone’s average sunlight data is based on averages from Asheville and Bristol, Tenn. That data suggests that Boone receives an average of 4.5 hours of sunlight daily—but it’s only an educated guess. The partners will seek out specific data for Boone during the feasibility study.
“The landfill is one of the most daylighted areas in town, so it’s hopeful,” said Sinclair. “The margins are tight on PV, so you can’t rush into it.”
Goals and Challenges
Both Moody and Sinclair hold graduate degrees from the ASU Department of Appropriate Technology. Both were above the age of 40 when they started the program and both had found prior success in other fields—Sinclair was a contractor and Moody worked in technology and finance.
Discovering that they had complimentary skills and realizing that ASU was producing talented graduates skilled in renewable energy, the two became partners in the hopes of sustaining their own careers, while at the same time promoting green energy in the area and providing much-needed jobs and training for green graduates like themselves.
“At every turn, we’ve asked ourselves, ‘How can this provide the widest community benefit possible?’” said Sinclair.
“Boone is one of the best suited communities to take this leap,” said Moody. “I think the county leadership has been amazing—very visionary. They see, like we do, that we are producing talented appropriate technology grads from ASU. We need those grads to change the world, and that’s why we need to engage them; they need to see living examples. This project will further demonstrate to the area what is possible.”
Goals for the project include:
- Build a high-quality, reliable and financially viable PV power plant
- Create an economic engine for the county—the project will take the capped landfill and turn it into a revenue-producing asset, at no cost for the county. Further, the county will have the ability to acquire the asset in the future.
- Build the largest PV plant that the landfill can support
- Create a showpiece for the citizens of Watauga County—the goal is to build an asset that can serve as a source of pride and education. An educational kiosk and real-time virtual data are planned as part of the project.
- Offer ASU and Watauga County Schools students the opportunity to learn as the project progresses
- Support and stimulate the local economy—the goal is to provide employment for local skilled and unskilled workers and to provide preference to local suppliers. If the project is determined feasible, Watauga Solar estimates it will create more than 40 local jobs.
- Create opportunities for local investment and ownership through AIRE
- Strive to sell the energy and renewable energy credits locally
Watauga Solar anticipates four main challenges for the project:
- Obtaining environmental permits—the landfill is a waste site, meaning various environmental reviews will be necessary.
- Estimating PV plant output—the challenge is creating data for how much sunlight Boone receives.
- Designing the racking system—a rack system for the PV panels will have to be constructed that can be adjusted to the angles of the landfill cap topography and for optimal sunlight.
- Marketing the energy and renewable energy credits—utility companies must buy green energy and renewable energy credits to meet national evolving Renewable Energy Portfolio standards. The question and challenge is: who will buy the energy and credits?
For its proposal to the county, Watauga Solar received letters of support from AIRE, the ASU Energy Center, the ASU Appropriate Technology Department, Appalachian Voices, Blue Ridge Electric, the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, the High Country Homebuilders Association, JobLink, the Town of Boone and Watauga County Schools.
“This is the county’s project,” added Moody. “We just happen to be the mechanism for getting it done.”
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