This past week the solar teem met with Professor Snowden-Ift about the solar array. Professor Snowden-Ift gave us a really quick rundown on the status of the project and what stage the project is in at this point. I was very encouraged to learn that the project is much farther along than I originally thought, and there is a possibility that the college may break ground as early as the end of next semester. After we met with Professor Snowden-Ift we went to a meeting with the CFO of the college, President Vietch, Jim Tranquada, and Professor Drier as well as a other faculty of the college. Again I felt very encouraged by this meeting because it seemed that most of the faculty were on board with the solar array and much of the discussion centered around how the college will “unveil” this project to the public. From this point on the solar team is going to focus on outreach to the Oxy community about this solar project. The point of this outreach is to not only generate support and excitement for the project but to also increase awareness of its existence. We are in the process of making a fact sheet to circulate around campus and creating a facebook group where students can ask questions (that will be answered by Professor Snowden-Ift) and contribute ideas. We would also love to hear any other ideas you have so please feel free to contribute any ideas you have.
As you know when this solar array is installed it will be the biggest solar array of any private university or college in the country. With this in mind, I did some research to try and find out about solar at institutions in different countries. I stumbled upon a few very interesting communities that use solar energy. One such place is called Barefoot College and it is located in Tilonia India. Barefoot College is a Non-Governmental Organization that addresses issues in rural India such as drinking water, female education, health and sanitation, and solar power. The URL of the site is www.barefootcollege.org and this organization has really done some amazing things with solar power. If you go to the website and click on programs there is a link to their solar programs and some of what they have accomplished in rural India we have not come close to accomplishing here in the big city of Los Angeles. For instance their solar program started in 1986 and their campus is now completely self sufficient using a 40 kilowatt solar energy unit. I believe that some of the techniques that Barefoot College used are very valuable ideas and that we at Occidental could take these ideas and make them work for our current situation.
Thomas
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The Audubon Center at Debs Park near Oxy is entirely solar powered, off-the-grid, they had some problems during the winter when it is cloudy. They might be a good group to talk to about installing solar.
ReplyDeleteTo build off what Thomas started, I too believe that Oxy has a good viable plan for solar energy, but that we also need to continue to look at other models across the spectrum to study and find out what has worked best. I personally did not have to go far in finding another example of a solar array used on a college campus. My home town of Napa, CA installed a 1.2 megawatt system for our junior college in 2006. This system is very similar to Oxy’s in that it supplies a generous amount of the total electricity used by the college and that it covers open space that was previously unutilized by the college.
ReplyDeleteThe one main difference that the project in Napa used was a system known as solar tracking. This system actually enables the solar panels to move throughout the day in order to best collect the sunlight. The proposed panels at Oxy are considered fixed panels because they remain in the same position, facing the same direction at all times. According to a study done in 2006 by Napa Valley College, the solar tracking system allows the solar panels to capture 20% more daylight than fixed arrays. I only wonder if this system has been discussed by our solar team here at Oxy.
One more aspect that the project in Napa incorporates is the possibility of selling energy back to “the grid.” This refers to the college selling excess energy, say when the school is out of session, back to the local electricity company. Having had the opportunity to be present at the latest solar discussion at Oxy, I know that this is not something that is of current concern. This may be another way for Oxy to make more money from this project.
My purpose for this post is not to exaggerate the flaws of our system at Oxy but rather to point out other opportunities and possibilities to be the most efficient solar project. If we’re going to build the biggest single solar array in Los Angeles and any private college or university in the country, then my hope is that we consider all possibilities to make it the best.