Ayla McDonald
Reporter
Parkland Community College plans to install a Solar Farm on its northwestern campus by Spring 2019.
Partnering with SolSystems, Inc., a growing solar finance and developing firm, Parkland College entered into a Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) earlier this year for the installation of a 2 mega-watt solar energy field that will cover 18 acres of the campus grounds.
“The idea of a large solar array on the College campus came about after a great deal of investigation and research by the Parkland Sustainability Committee,” Says Jim Bustard, Physical Plant Director at Parkland College.
Bustard believes that going solar will be beneficial to Parkland College for a couple of reasons.
“[F]irst it reduces the College’s carbon footprint by creating and using solar generated electricity instead of electricity generated using fossil fuels” Bustard says.
“Secondly it reduces the College’s expense for electricity as the cost is less for the solar generated electricity than what the College pays for its contract electricity through the utility company.”
According to SolSystem’s definition of a Purchase Power Agreement (PPA), found one their website, the installation and operation of the Solar Farm will cost Parkland College very little. “A PPA is an agreement where the customer agrees to buy the electricity from a solar energy system that Sol Systems finances, constructs and owns.”
“Sol Systems installs, owns, and operates the system, requiring no capital outlay from the customer, and then sells the electricity it produces to the customer at a fixed rate ($/kWh) over a set period of time, assuring the customer a guaranteed price for their energy over the contract’s life; no surprises,” according to solsystems.org.
Upon installment, the Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) will be in effect for the next 25 years at little to no cost to Parkland College and is estimated to save the College up to $30,000 in annual energy fees.
“The College is saving energy dollars by purchasing solar power for less than they can purchase fossil fuel power, and the cost will not go up during the 25 [year] period,” Bustard says. “The cost of fossil fuel generated electricity will also most certainly continue to rise over that same 25-year period, meaning the cost savings will certainly increase over the years.”
Parkland College is actively interested in reducing the carbon footprint that it makes, taking many campus-wide steps towards environmental sustainability. Bustard believes that, though it is not the only move towards sustainability to be made by the College, going solar is a significant step.
“Parkland College is committed to reducing the amount of fossil fuels it uses and thereby reducing the carbon footprint of the college,” Bustard says. “Since utility usage is a very large contributor to the College’s carbon footprint, using solar energy takes the campus in a great step towards the goal of being carbon neutral. The College is also working on other ways to reduce energy usage on campus, which also contributes to reducing the footprint.”
In addition to being a good move for Parkland’s wallet and for the environment, the decision to go solar will also benefit Parkland student by providing new, interactive learning opportunities.
“Having a working, large scale solar array will give the College the opportunity to demonstrate first hand to students how this technology operates and contributes to the savings at the College,” Bustard said. “Not only will students be able to see how electricity is generated and transferred into the College’s power grid, they will also be able to see how this technology integrates into the overall power systems that serve the central Illinois power grid and what the future of energy systems will likely be.”
Although the Purchase Power Agreement between Parkland College and SolSystems was entered into several months ago, construction of the Solar Farm has been postponed due to State-level political constraints. Construction of the farm is now anticipated to begin in Spring of 2019.
