Oregon begins building first "solar highway" project
By Darren Murph 
posted August 17th 2008 9:20AM
posted August 17th 2008 9:20AM
Just over a year ago, we passed off a far-out proposal that would turn highways into wind farms. Now, however, the state of Oregon is proving that such feats are actually within reach as it breaks ground on the first so-called "solar highway" demonstration project. The project will be installed at the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 interchange in Tualatin, where it will cover around 8,000 square feet and produce 112,000 kilowatt hours per year. The total cost for the 104-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system is $1.3 million, and believe it or not, it should be completed and operational in December of this year.[Via Digg]
while you take inflation into account you failed to add in fossil fuels prices in the future. while natural gas is still cheap it has seen a huge increase in price even though prices are down now. we know they will be up in 20 years. since you or I can't predict the future who knows what will happen. wars and terrorist attacks can cause energy prices to shoot up.
remember it's a start. start building these along all highways and suddenly you have a nationwide solar plant using minimal space.
remember people were quick to hate on "horseless" carriages and look how that turn out.
That money would have been better spent towards a new nuclear reactor.
Could they have it built by December?
you must look into Japan's last 15 years' history with nuclear power to see how safe it isn't! check out Monju, or other power plants to see real near misses and small-scale, yet significant accidents have occurred here on a monthly basis! it only takes one big one to Cherynoble an entire region. Then who will pay for clean-up and other damages?
Tualatin, Oregon
Days per year with some sun: 141
Days per year with some precipitation: 152
Days per year with common sense shown: 0
What do you expect from a state that doesn't let you pump your own gasoline.
People need to stop whining about the cloud cover. Solar panels still get about 80% of their maximum output when clouds are present.
should call it the solar trail
Damn, I was gonna go there.
But all I've got is dysentry.
You guys need to read the article. This isn't being funded out of taxpayer dollars. A number of financial companies will pay for the installation and then sell the power to ODOT for the same price it is paying now. The reason this makes sense is that private companies are eligible for solar subsidies that ODOT is not. Some of those credits *are* Oregon state credits, but a bunch are Federal, which means I'm subsidizing your highway. That's fine with me.
Incidentally, the 8,000 sq ft size mentioned in both of these articles cannot be right. The fact sheet mentions 594 panels, which equates to 175w per panel -- a somewhat dated output capacity (newer panels like the ones I just put on a building generate 185w). Standard panels are 3'x6', so 594 panels would take up about 10,700 sq ft.
Not that anyone cares.
Adam,
You say that the project isn't being funded by taxpayer dollars, but that the private companies are doing this under state and federal subsidy? I just point out that those subsidies are taxpayer dollars.
These huge moneylosing alt energy projects at taxpayer expense can hurt more than help. People will see a critical analysis and decide not to invest in the next one which may make a lot more sense. Boondoggles can poison the water for real innovation.
Over 100 years I expect that there will be periodic cleaning, corrosion, wire maintenance issues, etc. and I'm not sure how much has been budgeted for this. But a 100+ year ROI is not the kind of project we should be cheerleading.
"Incidentally, the 8,000 sq ft size mentioned in both of these articles cannot be right. The fact sheet mentions 594 panels, which equates to 175w per panel -- a somewhat dated output capacity (newer panels like the ones I just put on a building generate 185w). Standard panels are 3'x6', so 594 panels would take up about 10,700 sq ft."
Huh? I've mostly seen panels that are approximately 30"x60", and current panels output range of 165-225 watts (all newer panels are not at the higher range). In fact, they may be getting a better deal for lower output models -- no reason for high efficiency when they have plenty of space (unlike a rooftop).
Hello?!? Look at Germany. ~1/3 of their power comes from solar. Also look at several companies that sell electricitry from solar panels installed on your roof at a fixed price under contract for the life of the panels that the utilities just can't match especially when you consider inflation.
Dude, I don't have any concrete statistics to hand, but I'm willing to bet a great deal of money that 1/3 of Germany's electricity supply does NOT come from solar.
Don't forget that when the Russians "accidentally" turned off the gas supply to Europe last year, the Germans bricked themselves and were very quick to get the Russians to sign a "Hey, we're your best buddies" agreement.
From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050402466.html:
...
Last year, German exports accounted for 15 percent of worldwide sales of solar panels and other photovoltaic equipment, according to industry officials. German companies hope to double their share of the global market, which amounted to $9.5 billion last year and is growing by about 20 percent annually, said Carsten Koernig, managing director of the German Solar Industry Association, a trade and lobbying group.
...
For now, the technology remains expensive and barely registers as a fraction of total energy production -- less than 0.5 percent. The government hopes to increase that figure to 3 percent by 2020.
Many of the solar installers here in the US buy the excess of German and Japanese production.
"your an idiot"
Oh, really? What do you call somebody who doesn't start a sentence with an uppercase letter, can't spell "you're" and doesn't finish a sentence with a fullstop/period?
I didn't say that Germany wasn't developing and manufacturing solar technology. I said that Germany wasn't making 1/3 of its electricity from solar. Reply to what's written, not what you *think* is written.
Okay, since you guys are all guessing (or lying), I decided to spend 5 minutes to do a google search. The three (pro-solar) articles I read, said Germany currently produce 1-2% of it's electricity from solar. They hope solar will produce 25% of their energy by 2050. So DREW, you are full of crap.
You are right that Germany is a world leader in adding solar capacity. However, Germany doesn't really get that much sunshine, so their noble efforts to produce solar energy don't pay off nearly as much as they would in, say, Southern California or Italy.
BTW, I live in Southern California and my solar panels are almost a year old. They produce about 7kWh per day more than my household and home-based business consume.
Oregonians don't like Nuclear power. Please see "Trojan Power Plant".
oh fail'd reply
As an Oregonian I can tell you, this doesn't make much sense to us either...something like 40+ cents a kilowatt hour compared to 6+ cents from PGE...Also, the 1.3 million cost? Expect that to climb in an absurd manner. They just finished off a tram here that most Oregonians didn't care for the idea of either (but of course local government did it anyway as usual here) and if memory serves the cost was suppose to be around 10 million, well over 30 million dollars later the tram is now operational at a loss.
Leave it up to government to find new and inventive ways to flush tax payer dollars down the toilet.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for alternative energy WHEN IT PENCILS OUT.
People will gut a house for $100 worth of copper, but those panels are worth nearly $1000 each!
They'd better weld those solar panels in place and permanently station law enforcement next to this project.
Ugh. Armchair analyst children here: FAIL.
Yeah, don't come to Oregon. There's nothing here for you to see nor enjoy. Please stay out; OKTHXBY
Is that you former Portland mayor Bud Clark??? Glad to see your still at it! You tell those Californians to go to hell!
Wonder how much the bill will be for cleaning up the graffiti on the fronts of those panels???
Ya know some smrtazz kids are gonna do it.... "CLASS OF 2012!!!!"
I think you are missing the point. It has been labeled a demonstation project, more of a proof of concept than an actual money/fuel saver. When fossil fuels become even more scarce, demand for alternative energy will grow and solar panel manufacturing costs will fall as production volume increases. The point is at some time in the near future, other energy sources will need to be utilised, and solar panels take a huge amount of space to get a worthwhile power output. A road is a perfect place to build them without blighting the landscape.
PV doesn't need any proof of concepts. It's been proven over and over again in just about every application for over 30 years.
A perfect project that will take all interest off of solar power for the future, proving oil right.
but an idea to think about, roads are already there, make a power out of their surface seems brilliant but hard to achieve. building solar power-plants in dessert areas is nice and all, but adding that absorptive surface to earth doesn't seem to be the remedy to a warmer planet.
"also, if 2/3 of your population had no power.. dont you think you would want to be friends with the suppliers of the power?"
Where are you getting '2/3' from, zed?
Tell you what, I'll spell it out - especially for you. If Germany was making SO much electricity from solar (i.e. independent of foreign sources), why was the country so desperate to secure Russian supplies? Answer: Because Germany isn't making 1/3 of it's electricity from solar. It's dependent on Russia's gas and oil. TA-DA! Mystery solved...
"idiot"
Hmmm. You still haven't got the hang of those uppercase letters, zed....
Besides the many, many cloudy days in the area, pollution and filth from the very heavy traffic on the nearby multi-lane highways will make this solar collector dirty quickly thus reducing the amount of sunlight to generate electricity.
If they wanted to generate more electricity put it in the desert areas of eastern Oregon - lots of sun, land and little pollution.
the greater portland area has about 12% less solar efficiency than phoenix arizona, so it clouds don't really matter to much.
Oregon is considered one of the best states for solar power. Despite what you people think, were not pasty-white people who like to live in the dark. I'm glad to see that our state is taking steps in the right direction, because it seems like everyone else is dragging their asses.
Not because of the amount of sun. It's because of the amount of Solor Tax Credits Oregon gives.
If we can spend 1.3 trillion on two wars, why not 1.3 million on what amounts to solar energy research? Or better yet, spend 1.3 trillion on this instead, and have 100,000 miles of solar panels!
why don't they put those regenerative speed bumps in or water collectors up instead. Seems silly that they aren't even getting a discount but charged more then a typical house setup. Only thing I could see why its being more costly is they need to build something to place them on. I believe a 10 kilowatt system runs 80k about for a house and thats the most expensive setup. So wheres that extra 500k going to?
This project is a Power Purchase Agreement, which means all the costs are from a third party. The customer (ODOT) agrees to purchase all the energy the array produces for a period of time (6-20 years) at a fraction of utility rates (typically 80%-85%). There is no cost to the customer with the exception of paying the salaries of the people who put the deals together. When a company bids on a project like this, they use weather data to model output and they take site security and module longevity into account. The customer just buys energy at below utility rates. If you don't know how photovoltaics and contracts work, please do not try to educate people about photovoltaics and contracts.
No cost to consumers/taxpayers? Are you kidding? The companies and governments involved will past those costs along to the consumer/taxpayer.
Hey, I live in Tualatin and pretty darn close to this interchange. While we do get our fair share of rain, we also get our fair share of sunlight. Before you show your ignorance about Oregon, perhaps you should stop and realize how much Oregon and Portland metro area is leading the green push through sustainable building practices amongst other things. In fact, this project will utilize solar technology developed in state. Maybe instead of slagging Oregon and this idea, you should direct your energies to your own elected officials and utility directors and find out why they are incapable of utilizing this kind of technology....
I live about a mile or two from the interchange. This is a terrible idea. Not only has the entire area been under construction up to this point, it just adds to the traffic issues.
I'm going to assume clackamas county has something to do with this. If that is the case, this kind of waste and stupidity is common among these folks. They also allowed 3 super-gigantic-enormous churches to be built within a mile of each other about two miles down from the interchange (stafford road exit). Deadlocked traffic on back roads is now a common thing along stafford, borland, and ek road. Not to mention the construction.
BS. Panel efficiency drops 50% just on a day where it is cloudy but can still cast a shadow.
Many people do not realize that solar cells degrade over time. High quality panels may last 20-30 years. Lower quality 5-10. This assumes the base infrastructure holding up the cells survives as long, which is doubtful.
Fifty years from now, people will rue the day they allowed the landscape to be littered with solar arrays and wind farms, all falling apart and creating a wide scale industrial waste nightmare. We will spend trillions cleaning up all this crap.
I would like to say that there is no reason that we cant farm solar energy in eastern oregon in between brotheres and burns a hundred miles north and a hundred miles south. That is a 3 hour drive of nearly flat desert that has nothing but sage and the invasive juniper tree. We would have a little snow fall during the winter but the last trip I made out there was in boardmen with is north and it was in february and it was over a 100 degrees all day every day. there is always sun beating down on the baren desert maybe even over 300 days a year. I have traveled the desert in the whole area and the great thing is there is a giant set of power lines that go from the columbia gorge and north, strait down to california. I could set up a government grant to lease a 10,000 acre property for the next 100 years and set up a system for the public to be able to invest in their future, by buying their own panels at a workable price. and as the system builds cash flow then we would buy more and more panels. There is no reason that we cant make our usage from solar to nearly 75%or more. If I built a solar farm in eastern oregon I could produce more than enough energy to power every home in the usa. I am not even talking about when all our cars will be electric. we will probably be fueling our autos in our garage with a charger system in the future. How much energy will we be using then? It can all come from natural energy. We should give up burning fuel. We should save it for all the plastic thing we will need for the next 1000 years. it takes millions of dollars in energy to grow our giant trees if we had to use all the electricity to grow them for 45 years, that energy is freeeeeeeeeee for trees. We can harvest energy so easy from many natural systems, Like falling water, and the never ending wind, and the waves, rivers flowing that could turn generators. I think that it is silly how there is always naysayers about the good solutions and no one cares to change the whole energy system. when the whole answer is found by looking up.
Eventually all of our cars will be powered by either a battery charger that we change and swap out for a fresh charged one or we will have battery charge stations located like our current fuel stops.
We always think stupid crap like "the wind turbines kill seagulls" that is f*#%ed! who gives a crap about the seagulls they will never die off. we are killing our entire ecosystem off by the BURNING of fuels. I worked in the biofuel industry and it is not the answer.
I can not see any reason why we cant be harvesting the greatest energy source in the universe... The SUN!!!!!!
it is selfish that we have not already taken the step to change our bad habbits. I drive a one ton crew cab duramax diesel chevy truck that I use for my business, and I spend thousands of dollars each quarter on just getting to the jobs!! it sucks. why cant we be solving this damn problem already!!!!!!!!!!
Ok I know i am ranting. and I know that humans are animals of nessesity but come on its about past nessesary. If no one else starts farming the sun here in the great state of Oregon then I will! just look for it. We need to take it into our own hands and stop blogging about it and take care of our grandkids or we will just be stuck.
Oregon has always been the experimental state. When there is a new idea, some crazy oregonian goes out in the desert and welds some shit up and solves big problems. It will happen.
Dan Shultz
541 350 3996
oregondanman@gmail.com
if you want in then get a hold of me!
won't they be rather unsightly by the side of the road. surely roof tops are the way to go.
http://www.totalsolarenergy.co.uk/residential-solar-power.html