Tucson - Utility Seeks Federal Funds

TEP seeks US funds for solar project

By Dale Quinn

ARIZONA DAILY STAR 9/2/09

Tucson Electric Power has asked for $25 million in federal stimulus funds to develop cost ­effective ways to store and de­liver the solar energy it pro­duces.

The money would help fund the “Bright Tucson” project, which is geared to optimize the output of a new 1.6-megawatt photovoltaic array near Tucson International Airport.

In addition to TEP, the Bright Tucson team is made up of local and national companies in the energy industry.

Joe Salkowski, a TEP spokesman, said the project’s success is dependent on the stimulus funding. Bright Tuc­son is the largest of several projects for which TEP, some­times with other utilities, is seeking stimulus dollars.

One of the challenges pre­sented by solar, Salkowski said, is that the energy supply can vary depending on weather conditions.

“Power from solar panels can disappear at a moment’s notice, only to reappear when a cloud passes by,” Salkowski said.

Also, peak demand for ener­gy comes in the late afternoon, while solar panels are most productive in midday when the sun is high overhead. So it’s more valuable to store that en­ergy for a few hours, he said.

If funding is approved, the project will develop a lithium battery bank and a com­pressed- air energy storage sys­tem next to TEP’s solar array on a 20-acre site leased from the Tucson Airport Authority.

The batteries would store so­lar energy as direct current power, TEPsays. The com­pressed- air system would use solar power to create pressur­ized air that could drive a tur­bine and create electric power on demand.

Salkowski said the project would determine if either stor­age method loses energy and whether they are cost-effec­tive.

Paul Portney, dean of the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, said that while he didn’t know how many jobs might be created di­rectly by the Bright Tucson project, it is a legitimate use of stimulus dollars.

“Finding effective storage systems is essential if renew­able sources of electricity like solar power are to reach their full potential,” Portney said.

Bright Tucson will spur themanufacturing of solar panels and could help utilities across the country reduce the cost of delivering solar power, said Ardeth Barnhart, co-director of the UA’s Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy, or AzRISE. AzRISE is the co-lead partner in Bright Tucson.

Local companies involved include Solon, a Tucson ­based solar manufacturer that will develop the tracking pho­tovoltaic array, and Raytheon, which will provide security systems and systems model­ing.

Barnhart said solar-energy storage research has not been tried on this scale.

Another aspect of the Bright Tucson project, not di­rectly tied to stimulus dollars, involves recruiting TEP cus­tomers to participate in a pro­gram that would allow the utility to shut down their air conditioners and other equip­ment when additional power is needed elsewhere. Reducing power to those customers would also help the utility manage the intermittent na­ture of solar energy, according to TEP.

Salkowski couldn’t yet say what kind of impact the proj­ect would have on helping TEP meet renewable-energy standards set by the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities.

“The results would not only help our utility meet our re­newable energy goals, it would help utilities everywhere gain a better understanding of how to integrate effectively, how to cost-effectively integrate so­lar energy into our nation’s re­source mix,” Salkowski said.

Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 573­4197 or dquinn@azstarnet.com.