Solar rising: Rochester looks to sun power
The photovoltaic sun may finally be coming out from behind the clouds in Rochester, where solar energy installations could be about to proliferate like never before.
The Rochester area has long lagged behind other parts of the state, and many other parts of the country, in the amount of electricity derived from solar panels deployed in local fields, parking lots and rooftops.
Insiders often blame Rochesterians' dour belief that our skies aren't sunny enough for solar to work.
But that assessment is flatly wrong, experts say. Solar power can and does work here. It can save money for consumers and businesses, give them a degree of control over their own energy supply and benefit the environment while lessening the extent of global warming.
Driven by ever-falling cost of solar panels and by generous government incentives, solar power is booming nationwide. Installed solar generating capacity has grown 50 percent in each of the last three years.
In New York, which is among the nation's top-ten solar states, the installed solar capacity grew nearly 60 percent last year. Still greater growth is expected this year, and the Rochester area seems poised to join in.
"We've seen a huge uptick in interest. We had our largest solar installation year by 500 or 600 percent compared to recent years," said Kevin Schulte, president of Sustainable Energy Developments in Wayne County, which installs everything from multiacre solar farms to small rooftop systems. "It's definitely moving in the direction of more solar."
New York's incentives, when combined with federal tax credits, can cover 50 percent or more of the cost of installing solar in homes and businesses.
Two years ago there wasn't a single large solar-power installation anywhere in the Finger Lakes region. Today there are at least 15 industrial-scale developments, many of them opened in the last six months. At least a dozen more are in the discussion, planning or construction phases by local colleges, government bodies and private companies.
At the same time, installation of residential and small commercial systems already is on pace to double this year in the Rochester area compared with last year — and that is before the kickoff of new initiatives to educate property owners about solar energy and obtain extra price discounts for them.
One of the initiatives is just now being rolled out in Monroe County's suburbs by solar installers and an electricians' union local. The other, an official state Solarize program, is in the city of Rochester and will focus first on southeast neighborhoods.
The two initiatives are complementary, not competitive, though some toes were stubbed when the groups tussled over which would use the name "Solarize Rochester." The city-based effort lost and has been renamed Solarize the Flower City.
It is being led by a newly formed nonprofit, ROCSPOT, whose founder believes the initiative will convince more property owners that solar is a financial and environmental winner.
"We will have a large amount of interest in the process and in the technology," said Susan Spencer, who researched solar cells while earning a doctorate from Rochester Institute of Technology. "Everybody that I have spoken with, once they understand how the technology works, how long it lasts and how it's more affordable than they thought it was — the most common thing I'm asked is 'Why am I not already doing this?' "
Voice of experience
Victor resident Chauncey Young, who describes himself as "one of those green guys," had about 20 solar panels installed on a large shed in his yard several years ago. That makes him, by local standards, an early adopter of photovoltaic technology.
"It works great. Right now, even with a cloudy day, I'm probably producing two-thirds of my electricity, with three or four computers and the stereo going, though not that many lights," he said one afternoon last week.
His system supplies about half of the electricity he uses. Anything he generates but doesn't need is sold back onto the grid, creating a credit on his utility bill. This practice, called net metering, is embedded in state law and makes solar systems much more practical.
Young expects the savings from that electricity will offset the cost of installing his array in about 15 years. That payback period is longer than some partly because trees shade part of the panels at times, reducing their effectiveness.
Still, he's happy. "It's one of those things I felt it was the right thing to do, to reduce my carbon footprint," Young said. "That was the primary idea — to reduce the amount of electricity from fossil-fuel sources that I use."
Solar power has long since moved beyond the novelty phase and its use is growing fast, but it remains a minor part of New York's energy portfolio. Solar makes up less than 2 percent of the state's electric-generating capacity, trailing natural gas, nuclear, hydro, fuel oil and wind.
And just as turbines sit motionless when winds are calm, solar cells are useless when the sun is down. The compensation, though, is that the fuel is free, non-polluting and never runs out.
Young's is one of 130 small solar systems on Ontario County homes or businesses, according to a state database that lists more than 30,000 such systems in New York. Neighboring Monroe County has just under 300 small solar systems.
Other counties dwarf those numbers. On Long Island, Suffolk and Nassau counties between them have 12,000 small-solar installations. Richmond County, home to Staten Island, has nearly 1,700. In the Hudson Valley, Orange and Westchester counties each have about 1,500.
Solar systems have been more attractive in other parts of the state because utility rates for electricity are higher there, creating a greater incentive to adopt alternatives, said Lane Young, manager of Rochester Solar Technologies, a division of Victor-based O'Connell Electric.
But as the cost of solar panels has plunged — they're now a third of what they were a decade ago — they're beginning to make financial sense everywhere in the state.
Indeed, the pace of installation has picked up locally. Fifty-two small solar systems were installed in Monroe County in all of last year; through the first three months of this year, there were 21. Neighboring counties have picked up the pace even more.
Locally, the cost of installing a home or small-business solar system can be paid off through savings on electricity purchases in six to nine years, contractors say. After that, electricity generated by the panels is effectively free for as long as they last, which typically is 20 years or more.
Some customers who can afford it pay cash, while others borrow to pay for installation. Low-interest loans for solar, available through the state, can be repaid on customers' monthly utility bills, with the loan payment offset by the energy savings so the bills typically are no larger than normal.
"We're at a point now where solar is cheaper than buying electricity from the utility right here in Rochester. It's not even close," Schulte said.
Support for solar
Under its NY-Sun program, the Cuomo administration has pledged $1 billion to support solar. Much of that is dedicated to subsidizing solar installations by state residents, companies and institutions, in keeping with a policy shared with many other states and the federal government that adoption of renewable energy serves the public good.
The state support for residential and small-business systems is meted out in blocks of money, each millions of dollars in size, that provide a certain amount of support for each watt of generating capacity that's installed.
A decade ago the upstate New York support for solar installations was $4 to $5 a watt. A year ago it was $1 a watt. At present, it's 70 cents. When that money is gone, a new block will be created that pays 60 cents a watt.
The idea is to slowly reduce state support for solar systems as the price of installing them drops. Funding for large-scale solar systems will be shifted to a similar block program, state energy officials say.
One much smaller piece of the state's efforts are community-based "Solarize" programs, which now number 26. These programs encourage neighbors to adopt solar energy and can arrange discounts on equipment of up to 20 percent, state officials say.
This area was late in the game, but the city of Rochester is launching Solarize the Flower City this spring. Along with the parallel effort in the suburbs, it could be the spark that generates a surge in small-solar installations locally.
The first phase in the city, expected to run into the fall, will focus on neighborhoods in southeast Rochester. Other sectors of the city will follow in subsequent phases, officials say.
Anne Spaulding, the city's energy and sustainability manager, said she believes the program will tap into growing interest in solar energy on the part of city home and business owners.
"Looking at the success of other Solarize campaigns across the state, we can see that it does encourage the adoption of solar technology in residential areas," Spaulding said.
ROCSPOT will run the program, using a $5,000 state grant to cover expenses. The group will convene public meetings — the first should be in early May — at which they'll educate people about solar energy. Representatives of three installation contractors chosen to take part in the program will be present as well.
For consumers, it's a good way to learn.
"Solarize programs are great because they bring attention and they give people a forum to be able to explore without being pressured to do anything. They can go and ask questions without someone sitting in your kitchen trying to get you to sign on the dotted line," said Kirk Golden, head of Rochester Solar and Wind in Brockport.
Property owners who express interest can get site visits from the contractors, who will analyze the solar-energy potential and recommend the best size and configuration of a solar system. If still interested, the owner chooses a contractor, arranges financing and the work is done.
The smallest residential systems installed locally in recent years cost under $10,000, according to the state database. Many others were in the $15,000 to $25,000 range.
State grants and federal and state tax credits can cover 60 percent of the installation cost, Young said, though in some cases support could be less.
There are several advantages to the Solarize approach, backers say. One is that contractors who pick up multiple customers in one part of town can buy panels and other equipment in bulk and get a discount from suppliers.
"If I have 20 customers, I buy them together on one truck. That could save me 10 percent on the cost of modules. It works great," said Schulte.
And a handful of property owners on a given street erecting solar panels encourages others to follow suit. "Once people see their neighbors doing it, they want to do it too. There's a chic factor to it," Golden said.
The program in the suburbs, which uses the Solarize Rochester name, is being spearheaded by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 86 in conjunction with several local contractors. It's not an official state-sanctioned program but works the same as other Solarize efforts.
"The idea would be to try to get as many people on board as you could so you could get the cost breaks," said Dan O'Mealia, the local president.
The group has convened three public meetings so far, in Webster, Penfield and Henrietta, though they drew sparse crowds. The next meetings are scheduled for Brockport on Wednesday and Greece on Saturday.
As it was getting organized, O'Mealia's group was asked to relinquish the Solarize Rochester name, which it was using in its Web address. He declined. Spencer, whose group also used the Solarize Rochester name at first, brushes off the problem.
In fact, the two groups may work together to publicize their programs, O'Mealia said.
"The initial confusion over who was going to be called what is kind of minimal when compared with the fact that Rochester and Monroe County are really moving forward with solar power and there are all kind of groups working together to make it a reality," she said.
Large arrays
Larger solar arrays — the kind that blanket fields with long rows of black silicon panels — have begun proliferating in the Finger Lakes region.
Before 2014, the closest solar farm was in Seneca County. Early last year, one opened on agricultural land in Wayne, then one at Cornell University in Ithaca.
In November came Monroe County's first, Bausch + Lomb's 3,700-panel, 1.1 megawatt farm next to its manufacturing center in northeast Rochester. Not long after an even larger one was built atop an old municipal landfill in Williamson, Wayne County.
Over the same time period, less noticeable solar arrays appeared atop a number of commercial buildings, including the Cinemark Tinseltown theater in Gates, Kohl's department store in Greece, a Wegmans Food Markets office building in Chili and the Macy's department store at Eastview Mall in Victor.
Going forward, Rochester Institute of Technology is about to take the wraps off a 6.5-acre, 2 megawatt farm on the south part of its campus, and officials are already talking about a second farm right next to it.
Houghton College in Allegany County has just dedicated a 2.5 megawatt behemoth, the largest solar array on any New York state campus.
Also in the works are solar farms at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Cornell's Agriculture Experiment Station, both in Geneva; the town of Ontario, Wayne County; and the Avon Central School District in Livingston County.
The city of Rochester plans a large solar farm on an old landfill on the city's west side, and Monroe County officials are considering one or more as well. Contractors hint that other, even larger solar facilities are in the offing.
Like small residential systems, these projects are supported by state grants. Many of them are built by large out-of-state companies that increasingly come to New York because of those incentives.
In some cases, these companies also own the solar panels. Because government bodies and colleges pay no taxes and thus can't make use of state and federal solar tax credits, it's become commonplace for private entities to build and operate solar farms on behalf of the nonprofit institutions.
The private owners can use the tax credits, thus lowering the cost of the solar power. The institution gets a state supporting grant and gives it to the owner, which then pays for the installation. The institution, which lays out nothing for construction, signs a long-term, fixed-price agreement to buy that power.
Because the private owner takes profit out of the deal, the power may not be as cheap as it otherwise might be. But there are other advantages.
Bruce Amey, superintendent of Avon Central School District, said the 1.7 megawatt system expected to open on his campus this fall will provide all of the district's electricity. The eight-acre array will be owned by a Maryland energy company that will sell the power at a price that will save the district about $40,000 a year compared with current utility prices.
And the price is set. "From our perspective now, we know what our costs will be that we'll be paying for electricity for the next 25 years," he said. "That will save us $1 million."
The district, which has two much smaller rooftop solar systems and has undertaken numerous energy-efficiency projects, also likes the environmental benefits. "We're reducing our carbon footprint, reducing our reliance on carbon energy sources," Amey said. "When this opportunity came along to install the whole solar array at no cost to the district, it would have been crazy not to do it."
SORR@DemocratandChronicle.com
Does solar energy really work here?
Yes.
Light from the sun is made up of tiny particles known as photons. When photons strike the silicon semiconductors in solar cells, they knock loose electrons from silicon atoms. These electrons, properly harnessed, form an electric current.
Any amount of sunlight, even if filtered by clouds, includes photons that can generate some amount of electricity.
"If you can see light, then there's energy there we can use," said Susan Spencer, a solar-cell scientist who heads ROCSPOT, a nonprofit working to foster solar energy in Rochester.
As for whether enough solar energy can be generated in Rochester to make solar cells worthwhile, Exhibit A is Germany. That nation has the largest installed base of solar generation in the world. Germany typically derives about 7 percent of its electricity from photovoltaic cells, though it cracked the 50 percent mark one sunny day last summer.
But Germany is cloudier than Rochester and thus has less sun to work with. Berlin, for instance, receives an average of 1,625 hours of sunlight a year.
Rochester weighs in at about 2,300 hours.
Farther up the spectrum, Phoenix gets 3,870 hours of sunshine a year.
Cloud-free desert environments are better than temperate climates like ours for solar generation — but even ours will work.
Nationally, large solar farms had an average capacity factor of about 28 percent last year, according to federal data. "Capacity factor" is the maximum possible output of a power plant divided by the actual output. Solar farms are hobbled, obviously, by the complete disappearance of their fuel source every single day. In several years, though, affordable energy storage systems will allow solar energy to be saved for use after dark.
The national average capacity factor of wind farms is about 34 percent; they obviously only work when the wind is strong enough. Nuclear plants, the facilities mostly likely to generate electricity around the clock for weeks on end, had an average 92 percent capacity factor.
Key findings
Trending: The historic reluctance of Rochester-area businesses, institutions and homeowners to install solar-power systems seems to be evaporating. More than a dozen large-scale solar arrays have been erected or are planned in this area, and residential installations are on pace to double.
The money: Now it makes financial sense here, owing to a sharp decline in the cost of solar panels and to generous incentives from the New York state and federal governments.
Initiatives: Two new initiatives to encourage homeowners and small-business owners to install solar systems, and possibly to provide them with discounted prices, are now starting up in the Rochester area.