Editor’s note: The Lake Havasu Unified School District governing board took a first step this fall toward the possible installation of a solar system at the district’s only high school. They are currently waiting to review a contract, still in negotiations, that could jumpstart one of the largest single solar projects at a K-12 district in the state. This first story of a three-part series examines the size of the potential project.

Jackie Leatherman/News-Herald Photo. Lake Havasu High School could have one of the largest single solar systems in the state, according to Today’s News-Herald research and a top state energy official. The LHHS project is slated to be 2.7 megawatts. One thousand kilowatts (kW) equals one megawatt (MW).

Lake Havasu High School is racing to make solar history in Arizona.

If the solar project currently making its way to the drawing board was completed, installed and turned on today at the high school — it would be the largest single solar project in the state other than a solar plant, according to a top ranking state energy official.

“(A) 2.7 megawatt is a large solar project,” said Arizona Corporation Commission Chairwoman Kris Mayes. “That is an extremely significant solar project. To give you a sense of how big that is, it is more than twice the size of any distributed solar project in Arizona right now. That’s the biggest that would exist in Arizona. That being said, there are several school districts in Phoenix that are also working on projects like this. I’m a little surprised that Lake Havasu City has that much load. It’s possible.”

The ACC, formed by the Arizona Constitution, regulates utilities, including electric, gas, water, sewer, telephone — and now solar and other renewable energies.

The Lake Havasu Unified School District governing board has yet to approve the installation of the solar photovoltaic panels at LHHS. Right now, the project’s size is slated to be 2.7 megawatts.

Through an official selection process that ended in September, the board chose APS Energy Services — a subsidiary of Phoenix-based Pinnacle West Capital Corp. — to develop a final contract that would kick-start construction, if signed.

Pinnacle West Capital Corp. also owns APS, a major utility company in the state.

Steve Frost, APS ES spokesman, said a contract could be in front of the governing board by the end of February 2010.

If signed, Lake Havasu High School will be hurled into the solar race against time, money and other entities statewide to become the largest single solar project in the state.

“We pride ourselves on being a leader,” said LHUSD Superintendent Gail Malay. “Whether it be energy (or) instruction….”

2.7 megawatts

It takes 10 watts to power a clock radio, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Plug in 100 clock radios and the electricity flowing through them would roughly equal one kilowatt (kW), or 1,000 watts.

Now, plug in 100,000 clock radios and the power would total close to one megawatt, or 1,000 kW.

The proposed Lake Havasu High School project is 2.7 megawatts — 2,700 kW.

Frost said one of the largest projects in the company’s portfolio that is completely installed and up and running is a 100-kW system at Sedona Oak Creek Unified School District in Sedona, more than 200 miles east of Lake Havasu City — it generates about 3.7 percent of the electricity that the proposed project would generate in Lake Havasu City.

Frost said the LHHS project wouldn’t be the first one the company would handle that reaches at least one megawatt, but he said it would be “one of the first ones.”

There is no magic list in Arizona that prioritizes existing solar projects by size, a task that Mayes said needs to be completed.

Research shows that some of the largest single projects at schools currently up and running in the state are at Deer Valley Unified School District and Scottsdale Unified School District, both outside Phoenix.

Each district has at least one project that reaches one megawatt — less than half the size of the local proposed project.

Arizona State University installed its first solar system in 2004. The university has the only solar photovoltaic testing laboratory in the United States — and one of three worldwide, said Bonny Bentzin, director of ASU’s University Sustainability Practices.

ASU’s solar installation has been spread among several smaller projects — not one single project.

The Phoenix Business Journal rated the top 10 largest solar systems serviced by at least one of two major utility companies in the state — including APS — in the spring 2009. ASU took the top two spots on the list with the largest system generating just shy of one megawatt.

Nationally, ASU ranks seventh out of 177 universities and colleges for the amount of energy generated by solar panels, according to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Web site.

But currently, all the university’s solar panels up and running total slightly more 1.8 megawatts — still only two-thirds of the LHHS project.

‘Wow’

“Wow,” was the first word muttered from David Peterson’s mouth when he heard the size of the LHHS project.

Peterson, the assistant superintendent of the Scottsdale Unified School district, has researched solar projects for at least two years.

“That is a big system,” he said. “It seems like they are over-killing it.”

Scottsdale school officials just turned on a 400-kW system at Coronado High School in December — about 14 percent of the power that is expected for LHHS.

Scottsdale district officials are moving forward with another 400-kW system at Saguaro High School and a 1-megawatt solar system at Desert Mountain High School, which is roughly 432,000 square feet.

The systems are expected to provide about 60 percent of the electricity for the schools, Peterson said.

If the 2.7-MW project is installed at LHHS, it is expected to generate close to 100 percent of electricity for the 266,502 square feet among the buildings across the campus, according to LHUSD district officials.

Deer Valley Unified School District officials are wrapping up a 1-megawatt project at Deer Valley High School, one of five ninth- through 12th - grade schools in the district.

Jim Migliorino, executive director of fiscal services at DVUSD asked “on one site?” when he heard the LHHS project size.

“On the 320,000 square feet (at DVHS), we were hard pressed to get a megawatt,” Migliorino said. “I don’t know. I guess my initial reaction is, I’m in awe. One of the things that we have been saying is the 1-megawatt system at DVHS is reportedly the largest (solar) rooftop system on a K-12 (school) in the country. When you say 2.7, I mean that is almost triple the size, and again, I would think that with a 2.7 you are going to (over) generate. You would have to. We are dangerously close to over-generating at one megawatt at 320,000 square feet.

“I’m almost shocked. Maybe our mantra of having the largest rooftop system would be something we would have to hand over to the appropriate winner of that accolade,” he said.

Current plans for LHHS’s solar project call for the solar panels to be installed on yet-to-be constructed parking structures, not on the school’s roof.

However, Mayes said the utility company, which would be Tucson-based UniSource Energy Services for LHHS, must approve the system before its use.

“Before the school can turn on a system and before the third party gets any money from the utility, it has to be inspected,” Mayes said. “One of the things that gets analyzed is whether the system is properly sized. The utility has a disincentive for these systems to be large because they are losing their kilowatt-hours. I think the safety net is that the utility will not turn on a system if it is oversized.”

She also added that the ACC annually reviews utility reports, which includes solar projects.

“If we see funny business going on, we can deal with it in that process,” Mayes said.

A magnifying glass

The U.S. Department of Energy pegs the beginning of solar power to a magnifying glass used to “concentrate sun’s rays to make fire and to burn ants” in the 7th century B.C., according to its Web site.

Photovoltaic makes its first appearance in the federal timeline in 1839 because of an experiment by a French scientist and, in 1954, the technology started working on a small scale in the United States.

But federal legislation passed in 2008 served as the catalyst for the solar boom experienced nationwide today.

“We’ve had three years for record growth for installed solar in the country as a result of that tax credit,” said Monique Hanis, spokesperson for Solar Energy Industries Association. The Washington, D.C.-based organization is the national trade association for the solar energy industry, according to its Web site.

Hanis explained that the bill extended a tax credit, which had been expiring annually, for the next eight years. The bill also removed a $2,000 credit cap for the installation of a solar system and allowed utility companies to receive the credit for the first time, she said. Thirty percent of the installation — no matter what the cost — can now be credited.

She said the bill provided stabilization and assurance for the solar market and planning purposes.

“It definitely was a catalyst,” she said.

In Arizona, the ACC passed a major rule in November 2006 requiring utility companies to generate 15 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2025.

“It was very big,” said Rebecca Wilder, ACC spokesperson.

On top of that rule, the governor signed legislation in July 2009 allowing school districts — for the first time — to enter into agreements with companies to install energy cost-savings measures.

Those agreements allowed the once excluded school districts to indirectly benefit — through private companies — from the energy savings tax credits and rebates. Schools were exempted from receiving the credits and rebates because they do not pay taxes, according to several officials.

“This is relatively new,” Frost said about the agreements. “You will start to see more of these.”

Mayes said now “solar (is) more affordable for schools.”

“I think it just speaks volumes about what the future is going to look like in our state,” she said. “I truly believe there will be a day where almost every school will have solar panels on it.”

Part 2 of 3 examines cost savings of solar installation; Part 3 of 3 explores the project’s funding.

You may contact the reporter at jleatherman@havasunews.com.