Sparks, Nevada officials are funding two solar arrays on area fire stations with money left over from a former city solar project, and the expectation that the NV Energy SolarGenerations program will pay for the balance. NV Energy was formed in 2008 by the merger of Sierra Pacific Power and Nevada Power.
The fire stations, one on Disc Drive and the other on Vista Boulevard, will receive ground-mounted solar systems costing $349,152, but none of the money will reportedly come from the city’s shrinking general fund, which – like those in cities across America in the trough of what is now being dubbed the Great Recession – is severely depleted.
The installer of record will be Steve C. Hamilton, Inc., a local real estate developer and home builder established in 1980. The fee for each installation will be $174, 576.
The installations are the second phase in a citywide solar retrofit that started with the Larry D. Johnson Community Center, where solar panels are currently being installed, and will end with the solar powering of three more city buildings by the end of 2010.
The community center installation was funded through a $250,000 grant, according to Public Works Director Wayne Seidel. Of that, $44,000 was spent to hire Reno firm Hershenow and Klippenstein Architects to deliver an architectural and engineering design recommendation.
The panels on the community center are expected to meet about 33 percent of the building’s electricity needs. Fire station panels will provide between 75 percent and 90 percent of each building’s electricity needs, from an array about 20 feet wide and 160 feet long next to each facility.
The total savings, when all three projects are complete, is estimated at about $120,000 per year, according to Sparks Deputy Public Works Director Pete Etchart.
Future projects, at the city’s recreation center (98 Richards Way), the Golden Eagle Regional Park (on 140 acres east of Wingfield Springs and south of Vista Boulevard), and the city’s police station on East Prater Way will return even more savings, largely because the police department uses at least $140,000 a year in electricity. The police station installation will be mounted on carports covering the south-facing parking lot.
Grant funding for the projects comes largely from Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) programs funded via the U.S. Department of Energy from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA.
NV Energy’s SolarGenerations program contributes one-time cash incentives for solar photovoltaic systems installed by the utility’s customers, who receive the payment on completion of a project, provided it meets program stipulations.
The SolarGenerations program is governed by Nevada law (NRS, Chapter 701B, and amendments under SB 358, May of 2009), which also sets capacity levels for each program year. NV Energy accepts applications until capacity levels are filled. Applications taken after that are placed on a waiting list, though this is no guarantee of funding.
Because one requirement of the rebate process demands that the city have an educational component, the community center will have a monitor showing how much energy the solar panels are producing in real time.