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Collecting more power from the sun Fort Simpson solar panel project gets an expansionRoxanna Thompson Northern News Services Published Thursday, February 21, 2013
An expansion to the existing solar panel system at the airport was activated on Feb. 15. The original system, brought online on Feb. 22 of last year, contains 426 solar panels capable of producing 60.6 kilowatts (kW) under optimal conditions. The expansion consists of a second row of 178 panels placed in front of the original set. The additional panels are expected to produce 43.6 kW, giving the array a total production of 104 kW, said Bob Kelly, communications manager for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. Due to alterations by the manufacturer, each new panel produces 10 watts more than the ones installed last year. Expanded installation The expanded installation can meet approximately 15 per cent of the village's total minimum power requirements, Kelly said. Over the course of the year, the system is expected to create enough electricity to be the equivalent of shutting down the diesel plant for 4.3 days of the year. Before the expansion, the system was already the largest solar panel installation in Saskatchewan, Alberta or North of 60. The expansion had a budget of $350,000 with $250,000 provided by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in support of the territorial government's solar energy strategy. The power corporation is expected to spend up to $100,000 on the project, Kelly said. With funding available from the territorial government, the power corporation decided to expand the solar system in Fort Simpson because it was the most cost effective and productive location, in part because of the existing infrastructure, said Myra Berrub, the manager of energy services for the territorial utility. The power corp. had already installed a larger-than-necessary transformer in the original system in anticipation of an expansion. Using the same location also meant that tests already done before the first array was built didn't have to be conducted again, she said. Pleased with performance The company has been pleased with the performance of the existing system. "It has performed slightly beyond what our expectations were," Kelly said. The original 426 solar panels created eight per cent more electricity than expected in their first year. Although it is performing well, the capital costs of solar systems are still higher than the diesel systems they are offsetting. Without the contribution from the territorial government, the corporation wouldn't have undertaken the project, Kelly said. Once the capital costs are paid off, however, solar systems create practically free energy, said Berrub. The existing system has had minimal operation and maintenance costs. The Fort Simpson system will create overall savings to the corporation and its customers because the bulk of the capital costs were covered by the GNWT, she said. Kelly said those savings, the result of not having to purchase as much diesel fuel, will be factored into cost calculations for the customers in the thermal rate zone. The degree of savings remains to be seen, he said. The solar panel project also aligns with the company's commitment to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and to create more sources of renewable energy, Kelly said. "It's a step forward," he said. People who are interested in the system can learn more about it through the power corp.'s website. On a dedicated page, graphs and interactive features show the amount of energy the array is producing in real time as well as its performance over the last week, month and since its inception. To date the system has produced 62.9 megawatt hours, offsetting 43.5 tonnes of carbon emissions.
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