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Chicago Radio News
Associated Project(s):A mention about the Solar Farm project (see submission below) will be read on Chicago radio (popular morning show) in September as a part of the university’s branding/marketing efforts.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA - CHAMPAIGN
Did you know the U of I is building a 20 acre Solar Farm on campus this year that will be one of the largest university solar arrays in the nation? It will produce enough electricity yearly to power 700 typical U.S. homes. Just another cool fact brought to you by the U of I.
News Video on Illinois Homepage
Associated Project(s):Channel 3, WICD, did a news story about the Solar Farm construction progress. http://www.illinoishomepage.net/news/local-news/solar-farm-construction-...
News Radio discussion of Solar Farm
Associated Project(s):Morgan Johnston spoke about the Solar Farm on RFD Today radio at 9:40am http://farmweeknow.com/radio.aspx .
News article about Solar Farm construction starting
Associated Project(s):The News-Gazette published an article about the start of the Solar Farm construction: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-08-01/solar-farm-constructio....
news mention
Associated Project(s):Nice Solar Farm reference in this article about Ohio University….
“We can learn from and be inspired by these models. Meanwhile, other schools also developing significant solar energy projects, such as University of Maryland (2 MW), Rochester Institute of Technology (2 MW), Elon University (3 MW), University of Illinois (5.87 MW), and Pennsylvania State University (the class of 2015 is holding a solar-array design contest to determine its gift to PSU).”
vertical solar idea
Associated Project(s):The Architecture Review Committee (ARC) got an inquiry about the possiblity of mounting solar vertically on south-facing walls (without windows). This could be a sheer flush-mounted solar PV array immediately against the wall. The PVs would not produce as much energy as a roof-top array, but there could be fewer issues with rooftop penetrations, etc. The ARC noted that there is not a specific policy about this idea yet, and they would willing to work with the idea on installation on a case by case, building by building basis, at least until there is a comprehensive policy in place.
For a given capacity of PV modules, a vertical wall will harvest 78% of the energy that a flat roof would, and 67% of the energy that could be harvested at a 40 degree tilt. While this is not ideal, the costs may be lower and the maintenance and roof loading concerns would not pertain. Two possible candidates are the south wall of NSRC (which has no windows in the "central" part) and the south facade of the Tryon Festival Theater in Krannert, which is actually somewhat tilted.
<post edited on 7/15/2024, added "Vertical Solar Panels on MEB" project, mbwhite>
Jul 9 2015 Minutes
Associated Project(s):see file
Several SWATeam recommendations were discussed. Also, an update from the Sustainability Council was provided:
"Review of Council Meeting/Status of iCAP Approval - The Sustainability Council meeting went very well with lots of good discussion. There were not too many serious objections to the iCAP. They would like to see financial information, such as cost-benefit analysis on projects. This information will be included in the study for accelerating our carbon neutrality date. The cover letter from the Chancellor affirming our commitment will include language about the current fiscal climate in Illinois. The Chancellor was keen to be able to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. Other concerns were in regard to the net zero space item and they suggested a space audit be included in the iCAP."
Attached Files:Award Letter - Anaerobic Digester Pilot
Associated Project(s):Food waste is the second largest category of municipal solid waste (MSW) sent to landfills in the United States, accounting for approximately 18% of the waste stream. Agricultural and garden wastes comprising of wood and yard trimmings come next in the list, accounting for approximately 15% of the waste stream. At the U of I campus as well, about 100-120 gallons of food waste is generated from one dining hall unit per week. That is roughly 0.5 cubic yards/week currently.
Anaerobic digestion occurs naturally, in the absence of oxygen, as bacteria break down organic materials and produce biogas. The process reduces the amount of material and produces biogas, which can be used as an energy source. This technology is commonly used throughout the United States to break down sewage sludge at wastewater treatment facilities. In the past few years, there has been a movement to start adding food waste to anaerobic digesters already in place at wastewater treatment facilities.
This proposal provides setup costs for a pilot test of an anaerobic digestion process to determine if a full-scale digester prototype is feasible.Rooftop Solar Student Project
Associated Project(s):Brendan McDonnell is working with F&S to identify the best buildings on campus for rooftop solar. Brendan is a MechSE graduate student working toward an MS in ME with a certificate in Energy Systems Engineering, and this is his summer capstone project. Professor Elif Ertekin is his advisor for the project, and Morgan Johnston is his supervisor at F&S. The files Brendan is collecting are stored in the iSEE Solar box folder at https://uofi.app.box.com/files/0/f/2802975201/iSEE_-_Solar_Working_Group....
EPA recognizes UIUC as a Green Power Partner
Associated Project(s):The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Power Partnership has officially recognized the University of Illinois as a Green Power Partner for purchasing electricity from clean, renewable sources - see attached news release.
Attached Files:electricity consumption by year
Associated Project(s):The total electricity charged by Ameren to campus for the Building Research Council went down by 13,760 kWh/year from FY13 to FY14, which is in some part due to the solar array - see file.
Attached Files:Renewables presentation to MSTE
Associated Project(s):The Office for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education in the College of Education hosted Morgan Johnston as a guest speaker on February 27. One part of the overall Climate Action Plan is to increase the use of renewable energy generation for our campus power requirements. This presentation reviewed the progress toward increased use of renewables for our campus, and discussed current efforts underway, including the forthcoming Solar Farm.
Attached Files:Media Hits
Associated Project(s):http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-01-20/solar-farm-construction-start-spring-ui.html
http://www.illinoishomepage.net/story/d/story/south-farms-to-include-sol...
http://www.wics.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_20693.shtml
http://sustainability.illinois.edu/big-news-from-facilities-services-sol...
http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2015/01/21/dd-obama-no-challenge-poses-...
http://wgil.com/v3/2015/01/21/u-of-illinois-gets-ok-to-hire-california-f...
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/4798ffaa7e8a4a4d869ef07afe8be884/I...
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/ui-gets-ok-to...
http://www.energycentral.com/news/en/34977147/-Solar-farm-design-work-co...?
http://www.bnd.com/2015/01/21/3621109/ui-gets-ok-to-hire-california.html
http://myinforms.com/en-us/a/9878155-solar-farm-construction-to-start-in...
Solar Farm Agreements Signed
Associated Project(s):CHAMPAIGN, IL (January 20, 2015) – Construction of a 5.87 megawatt (MW) Solar Farm on campus will begin in Spring 2015 after university and state officials approved power purchase and land lease agreements with Phoenix Solar South Farms, LLC.
See the attached release, fact sheet, and poster for more details.
Previous iCAP Portal overview
Associated Project(s):To increase the use of renewable energy sources for campus electrical needs and meet the commitments set by the 2010 Climate Action Plan, the University of Illinois issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a firm to design, build, operate, and maintain (DBOM) a Solar Farm at the Urbana campus with a corresponding Power Purchase Agreement. The Solar Farm will be connected directly to the University’s electrical distribution system in parallel with the electrical service provided by the local utility.
The University provides electricity, chilled water, and steam service to more than 50,000 people (faculty, staff and students) who work, learn, and/or live on the campus. The electricity generated from campus is delivered to the campus via the University’s owned and operated distribution system. Although the University’s grid is connected to the local utility transmission and distribution system, which receives transmission services from the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), the University will use all of the electricity generated from the solar farm project.
Background
The University is seeking a proposal to lease 21 acres of land in the South Farms area, for the installation and operation of a Solar Farm. The University will lease the land to the selected Proposer for $1.00 per year and establish a Power Purchase Agreement for the renewable energy. The Proposer will be responsible for design, construction, permitting, transportation needs, operation, and maintenance of the Solar Farm, as well as connection to the University’s electrical grid.
Update from Ben McCall
Associated Project(s):Dear Tim,
Some bad news to report. The Revolving Loan Fund committee elected to defer consideration of the funding for the biomass boiler, because they were concerned that the operational and maintenance issues were not yet worked out. This is not as bad of news as I first thought, because the RLF process is going to be revamped in the spring to be more of a "rolling deadline" process, so we should be able to go back to them sometime in the spring and get a quick response.
Given the delay in RLF funding, it seems to make sense to delay our proposal to ICECF until July. Another important consideration here is that the North Campus Parking Deck Solar project is evidently going to apply to ICECF in January, and there is at least some concern about submitting two proposals from campus in the same round. Yet another consideration is that upon reviewing the ICECF form, we noticed that they are looking for a well-developed educational plan...and we have not really spent any time working on that.
So I'm afraid we are in a bit of limbo here, until we get the O&M issues resolved and the MOU with F&S finalized. Hopefully we can tackle that in January, so that we're ready to go back to RLF as soon as their process re-opens.
At least we've finally made great headway on the engineering work, and will have some real budgetary numbers to work with soon...!
Cheers,
Ben
Solar Donor Concept
Associated Project(s):To fund solar panels, there could be a Solar Donor program. Tom Abram, previous F&S Sustainability Coordinator, wrote about the concept in 2009 (see file).
Attached Files:Biomass Consultation Group
Associated Project(s):Dear Energy Enthusiasts,
Thanks to all who attended the first Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) biomass meeting, we are off with a strong start. This week we we will have the second consultation group meeting to carry on discussion and orient goals toward improving sustainability on campus.
Dong Kook will present on the most recent publications from the research group of Praveen Kumar in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His topic for discussion will be Threshold Dynamics in Soil Carbon Storage for Bioenergy Crops. Click (here) to become familiar with their group's work.
We are gathering all interested persons to discuss the possibilities for a large-scale biomass facility that could eventually replace Abbott Power Plant. All ideas are welcome. Please pass this invitation on to anyone you think might be interested.Meeting details:
Time: Tuesday, November 18 from 1:00pm-2:30pm
Location: iSEE Conference room #358
National Soybean Research Center (directions here)
1101 W. Peabody Drive
Urbana, IL 61801Thanks and have a great weekend.
Nathan Wells
October 30 meeting
Associated Project(s):iCAP Working Group Thursday, October 30, 2014 358 NSRC, 1:30 - 3:00 pm
- Discussion with Kent Reifsteck, Director of Utilities & Energy Services Division, regarding campus energy and the Wind PPA
- Unmet targets from 2010 iCAP
- Overview of iCAP Forum and SWAT Team Recommendations
- Discussion of timeline for completing 2015 iCAP
- Other business
Attached Files: