Alaska Energy Authority invests $4.9 million in state’s largest solar farm

Residents of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough will get much more energy from the solar subsequent summer season. That’s when development is anticipated to complete in Houston on what would be the state’s largest photo voltaic farm, projected to provide sufficient vitality to energy 1400 houses.

The state-owned Alaska Power Authority introduced on Oct. 27 that they might mortgage $4.9 million to the undertaking.

Curtis Thayer is Government Director at AEA and says renewables like photo voltaic assist offset Railbelt communities’ reliance on pure gasoline. Thayer says the state and the governor wish to cut back carbon emissions, however that received’t occur in a single day.

“You’re by no means going to have the ability to do every little thing on wind, every little thing on photo voltaic, or hydro. There must be a stability,” Thayer stated. “In order that stability is, as expertise advances, hopefully we are able to wean ourselves off of the carbon, however that’s going to be a bridge.”

Thayer says the added renewable energy is not going to elevate prices for customers and can even stabilize charges, particularly in the long run. That’s potential as a result of the worth of photo voltaic has fallen quickly in recent times – dropping 80-90% over the past decade, in accordance with Jenn Miller, CEO of Renewable IPP.

Three years in the past, Renewable IPP constructed what’s at present the largest photo voltaic farm in Alaska, a 1.2 megawatt array subsequent to the Parks Freeway in Willow. Now, Miller’s firm is growing the Houston undertaking simply down the freeway, and it’s set to be greater than six instances greater at 8.5 megawatts.

“The notion is, ‘Photo voltaic in Alaska? You should be loopy!’ However given the dramatic worth lower within the expertise because it’s deployed increasingly more world wide, that’s what now makes it a viable expertise right here on this northern state,” Miller stated.

Miller says the Houston array is properly suited to Alaska’s local weather as a result of the panels are two-sided, optimizing their winter manufacturing.

“And so February, March – we have now a whole lot of sunny good days throughout that point as properly. We’ll be capable of seize further manufacturing because it bounces off the snow and hits the again aspect of the panel,” Miller stated.

Alaska at present will get lower than 1% of its energy from photo voltaic, however Miller says that because the expertise continues to enhance, that quantity may develop to 25% or increased.

The Houston undertaking is on observe to be accomplished by August 2023.