Ellensburg’s solar project a beacon

ELLENSBURG – Gary Nystedt was brainstorming with a group of colleagues at a solar energy conference a few years ago when the idea hit him.

What if Ellensburg put up solar panels in a park and invited residents to invest in the system? As a return on their investment in clean energy, residents would get a credit on their electric bill.

Nystedt, resource manager for the city of Ellensburg – which owns the local electric and gas utilities – enlisted the support of his boss. The City Council in turn got behind the effort.

With help from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and Washington State University’s Northwest Solar Center, Ellensburg launched in 2006 what is believed to be the first “community solar park” in the country, putting the already progressive municipal utility on the leading edge of getting power to the people.

It’s an idea that experts say could be replicated in communities across the country. In the meantime, hoping to encourage the trend in Washington state, lawmakers increased the amount of the credit available to individuals who invest in renewable community projects. The rules implementing the credit could take effect early next year, according to the state Department of Revenue.

Nystedt’s back-of-the-napkin idea three years ago was prompted by residents who were peppering Ellensburg utility officials with questions about installing solar panels on their homes and tying into the grid, which can be a tricky proposition.

The community solar park has evolved into a project that now draws frequent visitors and inquiries from around the country, not to mention South Korea, West Africa and Australia.

Currently, 85 residents have invested in the solar park, which officials are now calling the “renewables park” because it will soon have wind as well as solar technology.

Investors see a credit on their electric bill amounting to their share of the investment. If someone contributed 3 percent of the total funds, for example, that individual receives the dollar value of 3 percent of the power produced by the solar project. With Washington’s new legislation to encourage solar parks, the credit will go up from about 4 cents a kilowatt hour to 34 cents.

This month, the city is installing the third phase of its solar technology, using the newer “thin-film” panels. The 180 panels are smaller than conventional ones made from thicker crystalline silicon. In phases one and two, the city installed 192 silicon panels that produce 57 kilowatts.

The next solar technology planned for the park is “concentrating.” Large, reflective panels that look like the old giant satellite TV dishes concentrate sunlight onto a receiver that converts it to a usable form.