MVCC ready to begin solar-project construction

ROME — In Greek mythology, the master craftsman Daedalus fashions wings of feathers and wax for himself and for his son Icarus to escape from the island of Crete. Icarus ignores his father’s warning not to fly too close to the sun, and he falls into the sea. If only Daedalus had known about photovoltaics to propel his flight, he could have constructed a more substantial vehicle that wouldn’t melt from the sun’s rays.

Photovoltaics is the name given to the process of converting solar energy into direct-current electricity. In July, Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) and groSolar, a Vermont–based, commercial solar developer, announced a private business-educational partnership to create a large-scale, ground-mounted solar project to supply electricity to the college. 

“We plan to install 9,000 solar panels on a 40-acre site in the city of Rome,” says Tim Heinle, director of business development at groSolar. “The panels will be laid out over 10 to 15 acres, and the remaining acreage, consisting mostly of wetlands and woods, will provide vegetative screening. The project, whose capacity is 2.0 megawatts of alternating current, will produce 3.45 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in year one, which is 35 percent to 40 percent of the consumption for both the Utica and Rome campuses. The college’s savings are projected to be about $90,000 for the first full year of solar production.” MVCC has budgeted about $900,000 in electricity cost for this academic year. 

groSolar is the owner of the project. “groSolar is purchasing the 40 acres, which were already zoned for this use, from the Rome Industrial Development Corp.,” continues Heinle. “The solar-power purchase agreement with MVCC extends for 25 years at a fixed price. groSolar provides a turnkey service which includes development, engineering, procurement, financing, construction, and maintenance.” 

According to Heinle, the project is on track to begin construction in the spring of 2016. Construction should take three to four months to complete.

To finance the private investment required for the project, groSolar relies on institutional investors, including NGP Energy Technology Partners, which manages a 

$13 billion fund; SJF Ventures, which provides equity funding for resource-efficiency projects costing $1 million to $10 million; and Calvert Social Investment Fund, which manages $12 billion. The solar project will qualify for a 30 percent federal, investment tax credit on the total cost of the project. In addition, the company and the college received a grant from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority for approximately 20 percent of the capital cost.

“The company assumes all risks and liabilities; the college is a customer who pays for the energy as it is produced,” notes John Miller, groSolar’s project developer. “As the panels produce electric energy, the electrons pass through a utility meter which then routes the energy into National Grid’s electrical system. The utility, in turn, credits MVCC’s monthly bill. The process is called net metering.”

Project benefits

The benefits to MVCC are several: electricity cost savings, no capital required, use of clean energy, and no maintenance costs. “But there is another benefit that makes this project especially … [important] to MVCC,” says Seyed Akhavi, the college’s dean of the Center for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, “and that is the academic benefit. The college can now incorporate solar-power training on a large, commercial scale into its electrical-service technology curriculum. This gives our students real-life training.”

“This is a unique opportunity for our students,” adds Prof. Robert C. Decker, director of the engineering technology program at the center. “It’s a chance to study a solar installation. Companies that hire our graduates know that they come with more than just theoretical learning. Our courses include installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of solar systems with plans for site visits to the Rome installation.”

In the 2014-2015 academic year, MVCC enrolled 4,024 full-time and 3,124 part-time students. The staff of 433 includes 269 professors of whom 150 are full-time employees. The budget was $52.6 million, and in-state tuition was $7,620. The president is Randall J. VanWagoner. The institution was founded in 1946.

groSolar, headquartered in White River Junction, Vermont, was founded in 1998 by Jeff and Dori Wolfe. The company, which is privately owned, started with residential solar installations and later created distribution services for dealers nationwide. In 2010, groSolar sold the residential division in order to focus on commercial and utility-scale projects. To date, the company has more than 2,000 installations nationwide, specializing in projects with a capacity between 1 megawatt and 30 megawatts. The company has designed, built, installed, and procured equipment for more than 150 megawatts of solar photovoltaic systems.

The solar project is a win-win for both the college and groSolar. Too bad the project/program wasn’t available when Daedalus and Icarus planned their escape. The MVCC students could have shared their knowledge of photovoltaics to create energy, and Daedalus could have created an alternative to feathers and wax.