A Sunny Forum on A Rainy Day

by: deciminyan

Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 09:00:00 PM EDT

At a forum today in Trenton, this diverse group of citizens came together at an event sponsored by NJ Spotlight, a six-month-old online news service.

New Jersey is second only to California in the number of solar power installations.  The panelists pointed out that solar power brings down the total energy cost because it generates its energy during the day when there is peak demand.  On especially hot days, the use of solar power helps eliminate the need to fire up older and more expensive power plants to meet surge demands, thus providing cost savings even to non-solar users.  While today's solar power is more expensive than fossil fuels, as technologies and economies of scale kick in, the cost of solar is decreasing while the cost of conventional power goes up.   Pam Frank, an executive from Sun Farm Network, pointed out that while the cost of conventional power is volatile; the price of solar is steady, making long-term planning less risky.

More, including a list of the panelists, below the fold...

Assemblyman Chivukula

Ed Houlihan of Shiseido Cosmetics, an East Windsor operation of a Japanese company, emphasized that his company's move to solar power was based strictly on the cost benefit and the ability to reduce the firm's CO₂ footprint.  The first phase of the project in collaboration with Sun Power was to install a rooftop system that met 25% of the power needs.  Following that, the facility built a ground-based solar farm and increased the renewable contribution to 80% of its usage.

Lee Turkey Farm, also in East Windsor, was represented by Ronny Lee.  Working with Sun Power, the company initially installed solar panels on barn roofs.  The company provided the investment dollars in return for usage fees.  Lee reported that in addition to the savings in utility costs, there were unanticipated ancillary benefits.  In an inadvertent pun, he mentioned that with the use of solar generation, "PR went through the roof" as customers appreciate the effort to curb pollution.  On hot sunny days, the rooftop panels reduce the interior barn temperature by eight to nine degrees, keeping the turkeys cool and happy.  And solar power provides a more constant electrical current flow than the grid during peak air conditioning usages.  According to Lee, the resulting elimination of power surges extends the lifetime of the many electric motors used in farm production.

The panel reported that Governor Christie's budget cuts the incentives for solar energy by $400 million, and unsurprisingly there was agreement that the solar market should be grown, not shrunk.  Matt Elliott from Environment New Jersey, an advocacy group, said our state has one of the best solar energy incentive programs in the nation, and he hopes we keep it that way.

From the ensuing discussion with the audience participants, it became clear that the currency of the solar energy market is SREC - Solar Renewable Energy Credits.  These are bought and sold on the open market to promote the use of renewable energy.  As with any new approach, there are some concerns.  The state's goal is to drive competition into the industry, so how do we ensure that the big deep-pocketed utilities don't corner the market?  (Fred Zalcman of Sun Edison noted that PSE&G is investing $500 million in solar power.)  Solar power installations often generate excess electricity which is returned to the grid.  What regulations are needed to ensure fair compensation?  And some farmers lament the fact that large solar installations will take away arable land for growing crops.  There are issues with our century-old electrical distribution system unable to handle additional demand, especially when electric vehicles become popular.  One home consumer who installed solar panels on her house wanted assurances that any additional power she purchases does not come from dirty coal.

Absorbing the information at a forum like this is like drinking from a fire hose.  As Matt Elliott pointed out, we are at a crossroads today.  We can choose to invest in coal and nuclear, both of which have tremendous facility and clean-up costs, or we can use those dollars to invest in renewable sources like solar and wind.  

Left to Right: Terry Sobloweski (Sun Power), Fred Zalcman (Sun Edison), Pam Frank (Sun Farm Network), Matt Elliott (Environment New Jersey)