APS solar plant could offer look at state's future

If there is one thing we have lots of here in southern Arizona it is sunshine and the heat that goes with it, both of which are prime components in an interesting new solar power project undertaken by Arizona Public Service.
 
Solar energy has long been the "dream" alternative fuel choice because it is an abundant and perpetual fuel that is "free" - if  you ignore the infrastructure needed to take advantage of it.
 
But it has had a boom and bust past, especially when incorporated into individual homes. The technology to grab power from the sun - basically the photovoltaic panels on top of roofs - is expensive and offsetting the cost with savings can take a long time.
 
The hope has always been that the technology would get better and cheap enough to make it more attractive to homeowners wanting to lower their power bills.
 
When you think about it, though, putting panels on everyone's roofs is an inefficient and costly way to get power from the sun. The better way would be to have the energy captured from a regional location and used to generate the electricity that all homes are already capable of receiving and using, without costly retrofitting or additions.

And that is exactly what Arizona Public Service is planning to do.
 
I was vaguely aware of this solar project, but my interest was warmed by comments made by the APS renewable energy adviser at a recent meeting of the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp. and reported in The Sun.
 
Toni Bouchard said the Solano Generating Station APS plans to build would be the largest in the world if it was currently online and would provide enough electricity for 70,000 homes. But it won't be ready until 2011 - if it actually gets built.
 
Yuma area folks driving to Phoenix would have a front row seat as the plant goes up. It will be located this side of Gila Bend at the intersection of Interstate 8 and Painted Rock Dam Road.
 
Most of us are familiar with the photovoltaic panels people put on their roofs that directly convert sunlight to electricity, but that is not the system APS will use at Solano. Instead it will use something called concentrating solar power technology which uses heat instead of light to produce power.
 
Many large mirrors will focus the sun on a heat transfer liquid that will heat water which will in turn generate steam that runs conventional generators to produce electricity that is then sent out over power lines to users.
 
Really the only difference between this system and current generation is that the sun is used as the heat source instead of some other form of fuel that is burned to boil water for generators.
 
Excess heat will be stored in molten salt stored in tanks on the site which can heat the water when the sun is not shining.
 
It is a simple concept - thus its beauty, in my view - but not a cheap one. The sunlight is free, but it will cost APS many millions of dollars to collect the heat and use it effectively. That means the solar power will still be more expensive than current power - although it seems to me that equation might be changing now, especially if fuel prices continue to rise.
 
Bouchard told GEDYC the project was dependent on renewal of the federal solar investment tax credit by Congress this year and its continuation for up to eight years to assure investors in the Solano solar plant that they will receive a 30 percent tax credit.
 
In other words, all of us as federal taxpayers will help pay for the solar power plant, not just APS customers. That is a disappointing approach to this very interesting project and one that eventually will hurt rather than help solar power.
 
If solar investors know they can go to "big daddy" to get some money to pay for a project, it gives them less incentive to try to develop new technology or find other efficiencies that make solar power affordable to consumers without using a subsidy.
 
Until solar power and other renewable energy sources can pay their own way - giving a fair return to investors at an acceptable cost to consumers without government intervention - they will remain bit players on the energy stage.
 
Part of that equation may be that we as consumers will have to accept some extra cost for solar power, if necessary, because of the benefits of a perpetual power source that is not susceptible to the uncertainties of petroleum energy, both in terms of supply and in geopolitical turmoil.
 
Even without a tax subsidy, I hope the Solano project will go forward and serve as a pacesetter for more large-scale solar generation in Arizona. It is an ideal solution to our state's future energy needs.


----
Terry Ross is director of The Sun's News and Information Center. E-mail him at tross@yumasun.com or phone him at 539-6870.