OPD To Experiment With Solar Power

The Overton Power District (OPD) is going solar…at least in part. Last week the OPD Board of Directors voted to move forward on a project to install an array of solar panels at the OPD Mesquite facility on Turtleback Road. The 8 kW system being proposed is expected to supply most of the power used by the OPD office building. The solar panels would be installed on top of a shade structure covering the facility’s parking lot. The project is seen as an important educational tool on the benefits and drawbacks of home solar power generation.

The total cost of the project is quoted at $75,000 including equipment and installation. The OPD is intentionally using equipment that is commercially available to homeowners. But the OPD system will include additional equipment and software that will allow OPD staff to track and study the performance of the system over time.

OPD was awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agricultural to assist in the project. The grant will pay for 25% of the total outlay for the system. This amounts to $17,575. OPD will pay the remaining $57,425 for the project.

Board members and OPD staff alike recognized that the project would be unlikely to bring tangible financial benefits to the district. During a presentation, OPD staff member Randall Ozaki, who had been tasked with researching the feasibility of the project, made this clear.

“This wouldn’t be to bring an advantage in dollars, but more in education; so that people can see it work,” Ozaki told the board.

Ozaki had calculated the savings in the retail cost of power that the system would bring. He used this to estimate how long it would take for the system to pay for itself. His calculations suggested this timeframe to be 25-30 years.

“But that assumes no maintenance costs to the system during that time,” said OPD General Manager Delmar Leatham.

Leatham explained that the solar panels themselves come with a 25 year warranty. But the lifespan of other key components in the system were less certain. “The power invertors are the weak link,” Leatham said of one of these components. “They have a five year warranty. So they could last five years or eight or ten. But if they wear out after the warranty, it would be an added cost that would have to be factored in.”

Leatham stated that, in order to guarantee economic viability of the system, the cost of equipment and installation would have to be reduced by about $30,000; nearly half.

“It sounds like the best case scenario is to just break even,” said OPD Board Chairman Larry Moses. “If you are lucky then you make it to that point 30 years from now, and then the equipment will be obsolete and you’d have to replace it. You never really make it into positive financial territory.”

Leatham admitted that the staff had a hard time making the process feasible from a purely economic standpoint. “There are a lot of variables and we don’t really know when, if ever, it will pay back,” he said. “If there is a payback it is for education of the public and for the perception of the public. I think this has to be considered almost as P.R. budget expenditures.”

OPD Operations Manager, Mendes Cooper agreed. “People in the district expect us to know the ins and outs of this technology,” Cooper said. “It is hard to be an expert if we have no experience with a system like this. This project would allow us to answer questions about the pros and cons of a home solar power system.”

“The viability of (these systems for the average household) is a complicated issue,” said board member Craig Anderson of Bunkerville. “There is a lot of hidden costs and misinformation out there. I think there is a need for reliable information and accuracy for OPD customers. With this we can better provide that and let them know of the problems.”

Anderson made a motion to accept the solar panel project. The motion was approved with a unanimous vote.