Saturday, July 18, 2009
Solar dishes to be installed at city hall this weekBelen The city of Belen will soon add new hardware near city hall that could save thousands of dollars in energy costs.
The city will have three concentrated solar dishes, similar to satellite dishes, installed this week. The city received $100,000 from a state grant from the governor's energy innovation fund for the project, according to Belen Planning and Zoning Director Andrew DiCamillo.
The fund seeks projects that will accelerate the development of innovation to enable faster commercial adaptation of clean energy technologies in New Mexico.
The city was awarded the grant last October, but Belen had to wait for the product to be federally regulated through United Laboratories. That regulation process is set to be complete within the next two weeks. DiCamillo said that once the regulation process is complete, the system would be fully functional.
"I can't wait for (United Laboratories) listing to get done," DiCamillo said. "It's multi- facetted with its heat and cooling (capabilities)."
DiCamillo said the city expects to save about 46 percent, or about $20,000 a year, in electricity costs after the dishes are installed. The dishes are 14 feet wide and 20 feet high, and will be located on the southern section of the city hall parking lot.
A special meter will also be installed so that PNM can record the amount of energy that the city is feeding back into the grid. The city would receive credit for generating its own energy.
In January, the city installed energy-efficient lighting to offset its energy costs.
"(The savings) is quiet a bit," DiCamillo said. "But we won't know for sure until everything is up and operating. But that's what we understand this technology will do."
DiCamillo said the dishes would have a special conversion system that converts heat molecules into cold air. He said the city would have to add those capabilities onto the dishes after they are installed.
"It's in the research and development (stage)," DiCamillo said. "But this allows us to have multiple uses of one product."
The manufacturing company, Infinia Corp., is based in Washington state, and has installed similar dishes in Spain. The dishes in Belen will be the first in North America, according to DiCamillo.
DiCamillo said he was interested in the dishes because it fit the city's needs.
"I was intrigued about this type of solar power because of the amount of space it utilizes, number one," DiCamillo said. "Two, there are a lot of solar electricity generation that encompasses water usage.
"So, I was interested in this technology because it didn't use any water, which we can't afford to use. It also doesn't take up that much space."
The planning and zoning director said the city applied in June for another $500,000 energy efficiency and conservation block grant through the state Department of Energy Minerals and Natural Resources.
If awarded, that grant would give the Belen Community Center an energy park, complete with renewable energy sources including a photovoltaic solar unit, a wind turbine and eight concentrated solar dishes.
The new add-ons would classify the center as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building, which is under the umbrella of the U.S. Green Building Council. The council's classification is one that encourages global adoption of sustainable green building, according it its Web site. With the classification, the center would be the first 'green' building in Valencia County, DiCamillo said.
DiCamillo said the city would partner with the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus to possibly tie solar technology into their curriculum.
UNM-VC Executive Director Alice Letteney said the school is looking into having some sort of solar energy at the Valencia County campus.
"We are trying to figure out what's best for us," Letteney said. "We want something that is cost-effective and that's significant with energy conservation."
Reinaldo Garcia, the university's dean of instruction, said UNM-VC would create a course, or courses, specific to that particular solar technology. He said the university would first develop curriculum and hire instructors.
"We could have it up and running within a semester," Garcia said. "But it doesn't have to start at the beginning of the semester. It could be an eight-week course."
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