By Peter Day
Staff Writer
LUCERNE VALLEY — A forward-thinking team from Lucerne Valley is competing with others for thousands of dollars in seed money that team leaders hope could jump start the development of a network of solar "microgrids."
Earlier this week, Lori Steely, co-founder of the Mojave Communities Conservation Collaborative (MC3), submitted a request for information to Energy.gov's Community Solar Challenge. The competition is part of the SunShot Initiative whose mission is to bring down the cost of solar energy to traditional energy delivery cost levels.
According to Energy.gov, the challenge will help to expand the solar market to new customers including low- and moderate-income residents and nonprofit organizations that serve local communities. The Lucerne Valley team, and other competitors, will be eligible to be awarded technical assistance from the Department of Energy and other experts, and for cash prizes to go toward community solar project development.
Steely said the Lucerne Valley-based project could be awarded as much as $70,000 toward plan development and additional millions of dollars to bring the plan into reality.
Steely, who in 2014 was recognized by the Victorville Daily Press as one of the region's "People of the Year" for her work with MC3, announced the RFI submission during Tuesday's meeting of the Lucerne Valley Economic Development Association. Prior to Steely's announcement, renewable energy expert Tony Malone provided details, with the assistance of a PowerPoint presentation, about a possible community solar scenario in Lucerne Valley.
"Not all community solar is microgrid, and not all microgrid is community solar," explained Malone, who was a renewable energy instructor at Victor Valley after working at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Community solar is a solar power generation system that provides power and in some cases financial benefit to community members. Malone believes a Community solar system in Lucerne Valley would bring much-needed reduced electricity prices to a town categorized as a "economically disadvantaged community."
Studies support Malone's contention that clusters of solar and renewable energy microgrids do lower electricity costs and provide other benefits including reducing emissions and enhancing power production. For instance, a network of 20 microgrids in Cambridge, Mass., experienced power consumption daily savings of almost 5 kilowatts along with a reduction in system failures, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study.
Malone cited the cogeneration power system at the Lucerne Valley Market and Hardware Store as the area's leading example of a successful microgrid system. An onsite solar energy storage battery system would complete the system, he said.
Unlike the large, industrial-scale solar farms that have popped up along Camp Rock Road, the microgrids that Malone envisions for Lucerne Valley could be placed in locations that benefit the community.
"When they're put in the wrong place, they hurt everyone downstream," he said.
Solar panels, known as photovoltaic cells, have become less expensive to purchase and maintain. In 1977, the average solar panel cost $76 per watt. Today, the cost has gone down to about 50 cents. They also have a long life span with the average cell given warrantees of 20 years.
"I think going solar is the best way to go, Malone said.
Part of Malone's plan calls for creating a solar field in area about five miles north of town near State Highway 247 called "Tamarisk Flats" by LVEDA president Chuck Bell. Hidden by invasive species tamarisk plants, the solar farm could generate energy for the town and feed excess into SCE's nearby future Jasper Substation for distribution to other areas.
"We're actually selling them (SCE) power," he said of the plan.
Another idea, according to Malone, is to turn the abandoned Rancho Lucerne residential property at the corner of State Highway 247 and Rabbit Springs Road into a satellite campus site for a regional college. That location also would join the main community solar project.
By developing community solar in Lucerne Valley, the increased power generation would help California to meet its recently announced goal of 50 percent in renewable energy electricity usage by 2030. (California also must meet a 33 percent mandate by 2020.)
Steely is hopeful the Lucerne Valley Community Solar Challenge submission will bring good news for the town. But if the local team doesn't doesn't win this one, she's not about to give up.
"This isn't the only place to get money (for community solar)," Steely said. "There's lots of money to be had."