SOLAR POWER PLANT FOR MICH

4 dreamers have plan to energize state; State's cooler temperatures make for ideal conditions
Tina Lam, January 4, 2010 (Detroit Free Press)

"It might sound like a field of dreams, but Sam Field and his son Connor Field hope their new solar farm will soon bring a burst of sunshine-generated electricity to Michigan and a return on their million-dollar investment.

"With two friends, the Fields built the 700-panel solar array…[I]t's the biggest solar project in the state, providing enough electricity to Consumers Energy to power 20 to 25 homes…[A] pilot program by Consumers Energy to put renewable energy projects on the grid and pay owners a fixed price for 12 years [could] make the venture profitable."

A walk thru the Michigan solar power plant. (From the Free Press - click to enlarge)

"Michiganders pay an average of 10 to 11 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity, mostly from coal. Consumers' experimental program will buy renewable energy from homeowners and companies at 45 to 65 cents per kilowatt hour. The program has filled up quickly and now has a waiting list of eager sellers…The Fields' Galesburg solar farm is the first large project to come on line under the program…

"…[M]ore than 700 [10-foot-tall] solar panels stand in neat rows in a field behind a farmhouse…Covering 1 1/2 acres, all of the panels are set at the same sharp angle to capture the winter light…[ready to be] hooked up [in the coming months] to the electricity grid…by Consumers Energy, which like other utilities in the state is required to get 10% of electricity from renewable sources by 2015…"

click to enlarge

"The Fields designed, cut, drilled and welded every piece of steel and spent hours calculating where the sun's shadow would fall on the panels...They are pioneers who say they believe in renewable energy and decided not to wait for someone else to create it…[C]ooler temperatures, rather than the desert heat of Arizona or the steamy warmth of Florida, are better for producing electricity from the project's photovoltaic panels, because once temperatures rise beyond 75 degrees, the panels work less efficiently…In winter, sun reflects off snow, increasing the energy, and even on cloudy days, about 80% of the sun's energy still gets through…

"…[T]he state's peak sun energy averages 3 1/2 to 4 hours a day on an annual basis…an hour more per day than most of Germany, and Germany is a world leader in solar power…Michigan has about 900 kilowatts of solar power installed…up from about 100 kilowatts in 2000…[B]ecause no one has yet built a project this size in Michigan…there are no guarantees…Solar power is more expensive than wind, coal or nuclear energy, although many expect the costs…to drop [with] new technology…DTE Energy has a similar pilot program called Solar Currents, which also buys solar energy from homes and small businesses…[and] pays about a third of the installed cost of a home solar system, plus additional fees for each hour of energy produced…"