About 1,000 solar panels float gently on the surface of a holding pond in the hills of Promontory, resembling a cluster of black and silver water lilies soaking up the sun.
As the daylight glimmers off the surface, the floating solar array — the first in the state — will directly power the Mountain Regional Water Special Service District’s Signal Hill treatment plant, offset around 92% of the facility’s electrical usage, and reduce the district’s energy costs by 80%.
The innovative project has been in the works for almost a decade, but a $400,000 grant from Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky program helped push Mountain Regional Water to its funding goal. Those involved celebrated with a ribbon cutting on Thursday.
Now that the floating solar array is open, it marks a significant leap toward sustainable energy solutions in Summit County, and perhaps the rest of Utah.
“Traditional ground or rooftop solar wasn’t an option for us at this facility, but this innovative floating solar installation makes use of an untapped resource,” said Chris Braun, Mountain Regional chief technology officer, in a statement. “This is one more piece of the puzzle for us to get to a net-zero energy goal as we strive to be responsible stewards for the community and the environment. “
Doug Evans, the retired water and energy sustainability director of Mountain Regional Water District and one of its founding members, said the idea for the project came about nearly eight years ago when he sought a more efficient way to conduct business.
Pumping and operating treatment plants to supply the Park City area with drinking water makes Mountain Regional Water one of the biggest power consumers in Summit County. Evans estimated it took about 10,000 horsepower to get water from Rockport Reservoir to The Colony.
Solar power is efficient, yet it takes up a large amount of land. Evans said staff started to look at floating solar farms in Europe and Japan as a way to preserve open space.
Floating solar also addressed another issue Mountain Regional Water was dealing with: algae. The way to solve that? Cut off the sun.
“[The floating solar array] solves two problems: it helps with water quality and it provides energy to pretty much fully operate the treatment plant,” Evans explained, adding additional energy is created by the water’s reflection. “And the panels are more efficient because they’re cool, you pick up a little more efficiency having the cool water, so it’s really an innovative idea. I just never thought it would happen.”
Water is pumped up from Rockport Reservoir and stored in the Signal Hill pond before it is fed into the plant and treated. Some water goes to irrigation and golf courses, but most of the water from the Promontory plant goes to the treatment plant in Quinns Junction and then into the surrounding neighborhoods.
There are 1,092 solar panels floating on the pond, taking up about an acre and producing almost 600 kilowatts of power.
Stetson Tchividjian, managing director for D3Energy, said the number of panels would have needed at least three acres on dry land.
“This innovative approach allows us to strike a balance between energy needs and environmental stewardship. It exemplifies how we can harness the power of the sun while cherishing and protecting this beautiful landscape that surrounds us,” Tchividjian said. “This proves that we can do exactly that.”
Shawn Grant, the senior customer solutions program manager for Rocky Mountain Power, praised the partnership as a way to do energy differently. That’s a big focus of the Blue Sky program, which contributes funding from more than 50,000 customers who are committed to renewable energy projects.
Ameresco, a cleantech integrator specializing in energy efficient and renewable energy was awarded the contract to design and install the floating solar array. The system was designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 384 metric tons annually, which is equivalent to saving 43,211 gallons of gasoline per year or preventing the burning of 430,160 pounds of coal.
Ogden-based Apollo Energy completed the construction. Crews started the work in June, half of which involved building the floats for the solar panels and the rest was installing the system, and finished a few weeks earlier than anticipated.
David Tsytsyn, operations manager, said it was a unique project that fits into the creative, innovative mission of Apollo Energy.
Summit County’s sustainability program manager, Emily Quinton, was also excited about what the project means for green energy locally. The County Courthouse set a goal to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of county operations to 80% below the 2016 level in the next 16 years.
The county also wants to transition to net 100% renewable electrical energy for county operations and make renewable energy readily available and broadly adopted countywide by 2032, according to Quinton.
