Largest solar field in Ohio is dedicated in Wyandot
County
By Julie M.McKinnon
UPPER SANDUSKY - In the same two Wyandot County-owned
fields where crops once grew stands a $44 million solar farm that even on
overcast days can produce power for 4,500 houses - an amount that doubles on
sunny days. sunny days.
And three-month-old PSEG Wyandot Solar Farm north of Upper Sandusky gives
employees of First Solar Inc.'s factory in Perrysburg Township a chance to
glimpse thin-film solar panels they build in action when visiting co-worker Dan
Williamson of nearby McCutchenville.
"They just love seeing our end product, a working solar field," said Mr.
Williamson, an eight-year First Solar veteran who works in maintenance.
During the dedication ceremony Thursday at this solar farm, which is Ohio's
largest, Mr. Williamson and more than 75 other attendees got a close-up look of
the fields of fixed modules surrounded by fences.
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee, First
Solar Chief Executive Robert "Rob" J. Gillette, and others spoke at the
celebration about 65 miles south of Toledo.
"What we're really doing today is 'flipping the switch' on the future," Mr.
Strickland said.
Mr. Decker, who’s blazed trails in building energy-efficient homes in Monroe County for decades, had solar panels put on the roof of his new horse stable at his Temperance home this week using a combination of federal tax and utility company incentives designed to spur the growth of solar power.
After the utility installs a meter Tuesday to measure the system’s output, he expects to start generating electricity — and cash — whenever the sun shines.
The 84-acre solar farm with First Solar panels primarily from the firm's
Perrysburg Township factory started supplying American Electric Power with up to
12 megawatts of power May 26. Construction began in October; initial operations
started April 6.
The solar farm has 159,200 solar panels and eight power stations housing
transformers and other equipment. It is in Wyandot County's Salem Township.
The solar farm is owned by a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group of
Newark, N.J., called PSEG Solar Source LLC. It is monitored not on site but from
Boulder, Colo., by Juwi Solar Inc., and has a handful of workers on site.
Ralph Izzo, Public Service's chairman, chief executive, and president, said the
solar farm has met electricity production expectations, which are driven by
weather conditions. Luckily, on sunny days when more power is needed for air
conditioners, the solar panels are at their production peak, he said.
"Even when there's diffused light …it's still producing," Mr. Izzo said. "The
beauty of solar is that it produces the most when you need it most."
It requires little maintenance beyond routine duties, such as changing filters
and replacing fuses, company officials said.
"The highest maintenance is cutting the grass," Mr. Izzo said. "The
second-highest maintenance is praying for rain."
Rain is the only way the panels are washed, said John Montagna, PSEG Solar
Source's engineering manager. Some dust doesn't affect the solar panels, and
washing them could lead to caking on them, Mr. Montagna said. Plus, the goal is
to conserve energy, he said.
"There's enough rainfall here to keep these panels clean," he said. "Even in
dustier locations, it's just fine."
The firm has a similar-sized solar farm in Florida and a smaller one in New
Jersey, he said. Development of such projects will help bring down the costs of
solar power, he said.
Solar fields, meanwhile, provide an economic opportunity for construction jobs
in rural counties, said Eric Romich, an OSU Extension employee based in Upper
Sandusky who directs Wyandot County economic development. He worked with AEP,
and then Juwi and PSEG, to help locate the solar field on Wyandot County land.
Vaughn Industries LLC of nearby Carey was the project's construction contractor.
The solar farm is near an American Electric Power substation, through which it
links to the grid.
Ohio two years ago enacted a law requiring utilities to generate a portion of
energy consumed by residents to come from advanced energy sources, including
solar, by 2025.
"There's no point to an 85-acre solar field if you don't have any place to put
the electricity," Mr. Romich said.