WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, SportsSantee Cooper dedicates solar power site

Santee Cooper dedicates solar power site

From Santee Cooper:

BLUFFTON, SC – Santee Cooper, Palmetto Electric Cooperative and the Technical College of the Lowcountry today dedicated a 20-kilowatt solar array at TCL's New River Campus. 

The project is the largest solar installation in the Lowcountry and was made possible by South Carolinians who purchase Santee Cooper Green Power.

The project includes a series of nine canopies, each covered with 10 solar panels and sheltering a bench, adding another level of functionality to the installation. The electricity generated by the panels will be metered and supplied to the grid through Palmetto Electric Cooperative's distribution system.

"Palmetto Electric has been a great partner with Santee Cooper in promoting the sale of our Green Power renewable energy," said Lonnie Carter, Santee Cooper president and CEO. "We are proud to partner with Palmetto again today, for the benefit of each student at Technical College of the Lowcountry. This 20-kilowatt array is more than a handsome and functional gathering space. It will also offer us opportunities to learn new lessons about solar power."

Palmetto Electric Cooperative was the first electric cooperative in South Carolina to promote Santee Cooper Green Power to its customers, and Palmetto today has one of the largest groups of customers supporting the state's original renewable energy program.

"Palmetto Electric is proud of the role we've played in bringing this 20-kilowatt solar power machine to our corner of the state," said G. Thomas Upshaw, Palmetto Electric president and CEO. "We have promoted the benefits of renewable green power for years to our customers, and our customers have clearly said they want more. I can think of no better place for this demonstration project than at Technical College of the Lowcountry, where it can be an anchor for continuing research and development into renewable energy."

Dr. Tom Leitzel, TCL president, said, "TCL is honored to showcase these advances in alternative energy.  It fits perfectly with the renewable energy emphasis we stress in our industrial and engineering technology curricula."

Solar power technology has been difficult for South Carolina utilities to implement in large scale, because the state's haze and humidity dilute effectiveness of the panels and increase the cost. Santee Cooper continues to monitor technological advances in the industry, and is promoting broad understanding of solar power through demonstration projects such as this. Santee Cooper has installed several demonstration-scale solar models around the state, including a 20-kW array being used to research renewable energy storage solutions at the Center for Hydrogen Research in Aiken, and several 2-kW arrays at its Green Power Solar Schools offering middle school science lessons in partnership with the state's electric cooperatives.

Santee Cooper Green Power revenues paid for the $230,000 solar project at TCL. Santee Cooper has generated and sold renewable Green Power since 2001, and the cooperatives began promoting it in 2003 when Palmetto Electric Cooperative signed on. Customers can purchase blocks of Green Power for $3 a month; all Green Power revenues are reinvested in new or expanded Green Power projects in South Carolina.

The high-efficiency panels were manufactured by SunPower Corp. and installed by Argand Energy Solutions. The contemporary canopy design is by Watson Tate Savory Architects. Linton's Mechanical Services of Goose Creek fabricated the supporting steel structures. Santee Cooper's General Construction Group performed the site work and installation of the support structures.