Visalia Airport Goes Solar
(The Valley Voice, January 18, 2006)
Visalia - An experiment of solar proportions takes wing beginning this month at Visalia Municipal Airport. The goal of the experiment: to garner enough energy from the sun to partially operate one of the airport's key buildings.

For the past several months, city officials have been supervising the installation of two sleek arrays of shiny black solar panels at the airport.

One hundred and fifty panels were mounted on top of a new parking lot canopy immediately west of the Business Aviation terminal; 21 panels were attached to a new awning on the south side of the terminal facing the airport's runways.

San Luis Obispo-based Deventec, Inc., a solar contractor, was awarded the contract by the City to install the 30,000-watt system.

City officials are hoping the "photovoltaic energy generation system" will provide at least half -- and possibly as much as two-thirds -- of the power necessary to operate the business terminal, which is located adjacent to the main terminal.

Both the awning that was added to the south side of the business terminal and the sleek, Darth Vader-black parking lot canopy, erected above a row of parking spaces between the business and main terminals, also serve as a shade structures, doubling up on the effectiveness of the energy-generating panels.

If the power-generation experiment proves to be a success, said Sharon Sheltzer, project manager for the City of Visalia's Community Development Department, additional solar-powered energy systems could be installed at other appropriate City-owned facilities across Visalia.

Presently, according to Sheltzer, Visalia has plans to partner with the Tulare County Housing Authority to provide photovoltaic energy generation to a workforce housing development.

That will help to reduce utility bills for lower income residents, said Sheltzer.

The airport project's total cost was $260,000. But because the solar system qualified for a rebate of $84,000 from the California Energy Commission, which was funded by Southern California Edison, not state taxpayers, the city's solar energy experiment comes with a tab of $175,000 _ an investment city officials calculate will be paid back within 13 years.

"With the exception of minor maintenance costs," Sheltzer said, "the units can be expected to continue to provide free electricity for many years after the point (it pays for itself)." On a partly sunny afternoon on January 4, Airport Manager Mario Cifuentez and Sheltzer, followed along as Neil Lahey and Joel Weiss from Deventec explained how the photovoltaic system operates. Then they switched it on.

"Each array of 195-watt panels is arranged in strings and connected by eight-gage wire," Lahey explained. "They feed one of six inverters, which convert the DC power generated by the panels into AC power to run the building's systems."

The panels come with a 25-year warranty _ "although they should last 40 to 50 years," Lahey explained. "Although every component of the system is weather-proofed, it's a good idea to pressure wash the panels whenever you can," Weiss added. "Their efficiency decreases slightly when they get dusty or dirty."

Sheltzer said city officials directed Deventec to design a system that would fit in well with the airport's existing architecture. "We wanted a flight theme in the design we chose," she said, motioning toward the wing-like array of panels. "We're very pleased about the way it turned out."

Airport Manager Cifuentez said that three rows of T-hangers at the facility will also be powered by the new solar system. The T-hangers accommodate seven to eight aircraft each.

"If this works out and the return on investment is what we expect or better," said Cifuentez, "we could very well decide to expand this type of system at the airport."

The city-owned airport operates as an Enterprise Fund and is not supported by General Fund tax dollars. "

All of our revenue is generated by the airport's operations _ land leases, fuel sales, hanger rentals and other user fees," Cifuentz explained, "and we're hoping this new (solar) system can reduce our overall energy dependence."