Solar power hot all over Cape, state

Solar power hot all over Cape, state On Cape Cod and the Islands alone, 665 solar projects have been built over the past five years totaling more than 8 megawatts. The state has a limit of 400 megawatts total for projects which will be eligible to sell solar renewable energy certificates. NStar is doing everything it can, Durand said. "Each one of those applications has to be handled with care and reviewed in great detail by our engineering staff to make certain the project can be safely connected to the grid," he said. "Going solar on the Cape is actually more attractive," he said. The industry's growth has helped fuel solar installers and other businesses on the Cape, Sullivan said. For smaller projects -- typically under 10 kilowatts or 25 kilowatts, depending on how they are connected to the grid -- the process is relatively painless, said Herb Rice, an engineer with Cotuit Solar. NStar is failing to meet mandated deadlines for completing the interconnection studies, Rice said. For larger projects, NStar has between 125 and 150 days. But even solar's most ardent supporters admit the cost, including the valuation of the renewable energy certificates, remains high. Certificates for solar will vary in value but typically fetch between 30 and 54 cents per kilowatt. Even when one developer is responsible for a sequence of projects, as is the case with the cooperative, each project must be analyzed for its potential impact not only on the grid but also in relation to the other projects, he said. Even if NStar's cap is raised to 3 percent as is proposed by legislation pending at the Statehouse, the delays are such that developers do not know if they can make it, he said. While municipalities and other solar energy developers take advantage of this financial support, the tab -- as is the case for other energy subsidies -- often falls to ratepayers or the customers of polluters forced to buy the certificates. Siting silent and relatively unobtrusive solar panels is easier than it is for noisier and more visible wind turbines, but there has been push back from neighbors at several locations on the Cape. And after a wind turbine at Cape Cod Community College was stymied by a vote of the Old King's Highway Regional Historic District Commission, a solar project that took its place prompted at least one anonymous call of complaint to the Times about the cleared land. "They're hitting double and triple those on some projects," Rice said. In other cases, miscommunication between the electric utility and Verizon, which owns the utility poles, can lead to further delays, Rice said. But, while Cape Wind's opponents have blasted subsidies used to support the controversial project, there has been little fuss raised for similar financial incentives and the overall higher cost for solar projects. Despite the cost difference, both wind and solar will be needed to replace New England's old, polluting power plants, Cape Wind president Jim Gordon said. "Even though solar electricity is more expensive than offshore wind, it avoids the negative and costly impacts of fossil-fueled electricity," he said. But even the sunny side of life sees a cloud now and again. The cost of solar energy, while falling rapidly, is still notoriously high, easily topping the price of land-based and offshore wind energy on a per kilowatt basis. The DPU is working on ways to streamline the process, as is state Assistant Secretary for Energy Steven Clarke, Sullivan said. Despite the outstanding concerns about the process, the Patrick administration is well on its way to meeting its goal for solar energy, Sullivan said, adding that the heavy reliance of Cape homes on electric heat means homeowners in the region can benefit even more from generating electricity through solar panels. Perhaps the biggest hurdle for solar energy developers, however, is plugging into the electrical grid. Net metering allows renewable energy generators to sell power back into the grid or receive credit for other accounts rather than requiring that all of the energy be used at the location where it is produced. With all of these caps in danger of being exceeded, municipalities in a race to get projects done are at the mercy of how fast utilities like NStar can complete interconnect studies. A recent ruling by the state Department of Public Utilities requires that a signed interconnection agreement between a developer and a utility be in place before a project can line up to be considered under different caps established for financial incentives, McLaughlin said. "We're following the process as well as possible right now," he said. McLaughlin and others disagree. A lot of information must flow back and forth between the developer and the utility, a process that often eats up time, Durand said. The efficiency of solar panels has also improved, he said. Solar power hot all over Cape, state Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 06/06/2012