The News Sun | Steve Garbacz February 23
KENDALLVILLE — The McCray Solar Power Generation Facility hit expectations in its first year of operation, thanks in part to sun-tracking panels that generate extra power during the sunniest days.
On Tuesday, Eric Hesher of Renewable Energy Systems in Avilla gave an update to the Kendallville City Council on the first year of the solar field’s operation.
The field, designed to generate 2 million kilowatt-hours of power, hit that mark in 2022 by generating 2,006,343 kilowatt-hours, Hesher reported, despite northeast Indiana suffering some cloudy and lousy weather throughout the year.
The city March and April were significantly under expectations, while December, usually a poor production month anyway, generated even less energy amid heavy cloud cover and snow.
But a few good months helped balance out the bad months, with June, October and November beating estimates.
“The system performed as expected,” Hesher said.
Part of the reason why the field was able to hit its target was due to a section of sun-tracking panels, which constitute about a third of the field. Those panels move during the day, following the sun through the sky in order to pick up the maximum amount of sunlight.
Hesher said statistics from the McCray field showed a 13-32% gain during the summer months compared to the stationary south-facing panels, while in fall the tracking panels picked up 16-25% more.
“There is significant gains for most of the year with the solar-tracking panels,” Hesher said.
In the winter months, the tracking panels didn’t show much gain over the stationary panels, because the sun is lower in the sky during the day.
“The solar panel works best when the sun is about 90 degrees or perpendicular to the surface of the solar panel,” Hesher said.
The city saved almost $166,000 in electric payments in 2022 thanks to the solar field, which generates power for the next-door wastewater treatment plant.
Power rates increased in November from 8.2 cents per killowatt-hour to 9.05 cents, so the field will generate even greater savings this year by generating power that the city would otherwise have to purchase from Indiana Michigan Power.
Aside from the power purchase savings, Hesher also noted the city generated about $40,000 in solar energy credits throughout the year.
Renewable Energy System will perform its first annual maintenance on the field in March. Hesher said the field will be powered down and technicians will check all of the power boxes, connections and voltages to ensure everything is in good shape and working properly.
Hesher also noted that the federal government is now providing an extra 30% refund for municipalities that invest in solar energy, so Kendallville’s field can serve as a good example to other communities that may want to invest in similar projects.
In other business Tuesday, the council heard an annual report from Jerry Steinbarger of the Kendallville Local Development Corp.
The KLDC controls the city’s Economic Development Income Tax funds, which can be used for economic development projects.
The KLDC started the year with $1.96 million in funds and had a total income of about $597,000 on the year. With $287,499 in disbursements, the group finished the year with just over $2.27 million in the bank.
Projects funded in 2022 included $150,000 toward the iSmart robotics lab at the Community Learning Center, $64,837.89 for street lighting at in the new Noble Creek subdivision and $62,814.24 to Kendallville Restorations Inc. for ongoing neighborhood revitalization work.
The KLDC also has about $418,000 in pending commitments including $174,375 toward the city’s shell building, $150,000 for the upcoming Drake Road reconstruction project, $87,185.76 for Kendallville Restorations Inc. and $6,464.04 more toward Noble Creek street lighting.
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