Since "first-light" on March 4th, 2013 the array has produced 9.18 GWh of electrical energy, 12.1% of theÌýcollege's use over the same time period. ÌýFor equivalencies, especially regarding climate change, youÌýcan punch in 9.18 GWh = 9180000 kWhÌý.
If you want to monitor the array yourself you can log into our solar array monitoringÌý,
Login ID = oxysolar
Password = 1600solar
Apps for your phone can be found by searching for the company which runs the website, AlsoEnergy.
On the financial side of things, our electrical bills have been lower these last three years due to the energyÌýgenerated by the solar array. ÌýOver the last year the solar array saved the college $278k. ÌýFor comparison hereÌýare the numbers from previous years,
1st year = $250k
2nd year = $293k
3rd year = $233k
4th year = $248k
5th year = $278k
These numbers vary by 9.4%, more than x4.5 the energy numbers, due to the LADWPs crazy pricing games and ever changing prices. ÌýI follow this closely since I am interested in whether our array will ever pencil out. ÌýThe grand total savings so far is $1.302M on a purchase price of $3.423M so a simple minded analysis would suggest the array will pay for itself in 13.1 years. ÌýWith a warrantied life of 25 years it is looking good. ÌýHowever getting money is not free. ÌýI assume we borrowed it from our endowment and are slowing returning it. ÌýAll of the cleaning, weeding and inverter repairs are not free. ÌýEnergy prices are increasing at about 5% per year. ÌýThrowing all of that into the mix I predict our array will pay for itself (surpass earnings we would have gotten if we had left the money in the endowment) in 17.4 years.
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Finally here’s a disturbing trend and a challenge for you, the аIJʿª½± community.
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The horizontal axis is Year and the vertical axis is Energy per Year (calendar) in GWh. ÌýThe solid orange line shows the total energy billed to the college over the past 15 years. ÌýYou can see a big break in 2013 when the solar array was installed. ÌýIf I add the solar energy produced to what we are billed for I get the total, college, energy usage. ÌýThis is the solid line until 2013 and the dashed line thereafter and fit with the thin black line. ÌýThe college’s overall usage is going up at a rate of about 2 GWh every 15 years. ÌýThus by the time the array pays for itself the environmental benefit of it will have been wiped out by increased usage! I challenge you to not let that happen. ÌýSaving energy is often much more cost effective than producing energy. ÌýThe LED lights going in around campus are a great example of that. ÌýIf you have a good idea, and can put in some time, I urge you to consider writing a proposal to the аIJʿª½± Sustainable Investment Fund (
OSIF). ÌýThe OSIF is a $3.5M green revolving fund to encourage sustainable and fiscally sound improvements to facilities at the college. ÌýI am happy to share what data and help I can.
