Though it’s still contingent on a $60 million federal stimulus loan guarantee, plans are underway to build the largest urban solar power plant in North America smack dab in the middle of the Windy City (Chicago, IL). The 39-acre site, a former industrial area now classified as a ‘brownfield‘, is located in Chicago’s Southside and is a part of Chicago’s redevelopment area encouraging productive reuse of formerly abndoned and unused industrial land and buildings. The two companies providing the land and the solar system itself, Exelon and SunPower Corp. receptively, announced their agreement earlier this month and plan to complete the project by the end of this year.
The solar system is slated to have a 10 MW capacity which is well past the minimum wattage to be considered a utility grade system. Electric Energy Online states the following about the system’s capabilities and output potential:
The project’s 32,800 solar panels will convert the sun’s rays into enough clean, reliable electricity to meet the annual energy requirements of 1,200 to 1,500 homes per year. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s system for calculating emissions savings, the installation will displace approximately 31.2 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually, the equivalent of taking more than 2,500 cars off the road or planting more than 3,200 acres of forest.
It’s not going to power the Sears Tower (soon to be renamed Willis Group Holdings Tower) by any means, but definitely a step in the right direction and a good use of otherwise unusable space in its present state. But is it the most efficient and practical application for Chicago? After all, as the title of this post states; Chicago is known for its almost constant wind. On average the city sees 10-12 mph sustained winds that vary in speed depending on the season, but many times wind speeds will greatly exceed these figures. These wind speeds are ideal for much more efficient energy generation using wind turbines, which are much more efficient at converting energy into electricity. This in turn gives them a much greater electrical output (per sqft occupied by the system) than say a comparably sized solar system. Chicago only receives about 84 sunny days a year, and with solar cell electrical production efficiency around 20% (at best), anything but sunny days will greatly reduce this efficiency even more.
Why solar and not wind?
So why not occupy the 39-acre site with wind turbines that could possibly generate 4 to 5 times as much power as the solar array, and do so 24 hours a day regardless of the sun? Possible reasons why this may not be happening I’m sure are numerous, but the most likely reasons are aesthetics, feasibility and cost of the systems over their lifetime. Though the huge propellor-like turbines, which most people think of when talking about wind power, are arguably still the largest producers of mega-watt hours, many different horizontal, and low-profile, wind turbine designs exist that, on a large scale, could still produce significantly more power on 39-acres than solar.
So the aesthetic argument against a wind farm in the city may not be the reason for it being implemented, but the feasibility and lifetime costs are valid sources of contention. Air rights in urban areas are usually very restricted, complicated, and subject to numerous ordinances and ownership issues. In addition to this hurdle, wind speeds in this particular area of Chicago may not be suited for sufficient production of electricity via wind. The biggest downside for wind is in the fact that turbines have moving parts and moving parts require maintenance and inevitably need replacement. Unlike a solar PV system, which requires little to no maintenance, wind turbines will cost more over the life of the system; though one could make the argument that the vastly greater amount of power produced by a wind turbine system would easily offset this cost.
Regardless of the reasons why wind wasn’t chosen over solar, the companies, and the city of Chicago, making the 10 MW solar project happen are definitely heading in the right direction when it comes to clean energy and reuse of brownfield land. One always hopes that all options were put on the table and exhaustively researched prior to making a decision. We’ll see how this project pans out.
The Good: A forward thinking, functional, and ambitious urban renewable energy project making excellent use of brownfield industrial land with a hefty sized solar system that is more than just a symbolic gesture towards sustainability.
The Bad: Solar quite possibly may not be the best choice for a city better known for its winds. More power could be produced per sqft on the site using wind and would produce 24 hours a day.
The Bottom-line: Chicago is doing far more, in regards to sustainability, than most other American metropolitans. With their already well established green roofs initiative, an intown solar power plant is another feather in their environmental cap though it may not have been the biggest bang for the buck in terms of energy production.
OUR SUSTAINABILITY RATING:
YOUR SUSTAINABILITY RATING:
Related Posts:
Follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook. While you're at it, subscribe to our feed as well!
Discussion
View Comments for “10 MW Solar Power Plant…in the Windy City?”