Opportunities for Pork Producers: The Rise of Solar Energy - Bill Haman, Iowa Energy Center, from the 2016 Iowa Pork Congress, January 27-28, Des Moines, IA, USA. More presentations at http://www.swinecast.com/2016-iowa-pork-congress

1. Investigating Alternative Energy
Opportunities for Pork Producers
A New Landscape - The Rise of Solar Energy
William Haman, P.E.
Iowa Pork Congress
Des Moines, IA
January 28, 2016

2. Who is the Iowa Energy Center?
• A Little History
– Created by the 1990 Iowa Energy Efficiency Act
– Funded by surcharge on intra-state electric & gas sales
• 0.085% of gross revenues
• ~ $3,900,000 annual budget
– Administered by Iowa State University
• Mission is to
– sponsor and conduct research, demonstration & information
dissemination
• Energy efficiency
• Alternate energy systems
– Provide Iowans with reliable, objective information on energy
and efficiency options
• Administer the Alternate Energy Revolving Loan Program

3. EIA, 2015

5. U.S. Wind Resources, 80 m

6. US Wind Farm Locations

7. Status of Wind Energy in Iowa
• Wind Facts
– Iowa is the nation’s 7th
windiest state and ranks 3rd
in total
wind energy capacity installed behind Texas & California
– Approximately 5,708 MW installed capacity
• 679 MW under construction
– ~ 3,447 existing utility-scale turbines (>50 kW)
– Percentage of Iowa electricity from wind in 2014: ~28.53%
• Iowa ranked first in the US in 2014 for percentage
of electricity derived from wind.
– Iowa wind farms now online power the equivalent of more
than 1.5 million homes
– Many farm/residential units (400-500)

8. How does Iowa Compare?
Wind
Poten
MW
Installed
MW
Installed
Rank
% of
Load
No. of
Turbines
Under
Constr.
MW
Manuf
Facilty
Iowa 570,714 5,708 3 28.53 3,447 679 12
IL 249,882 3,667 5 4.98 2,245 425 39
MN 489,271 3,035 6 15.94 2,156 370 24
KS 952,371 2,967 9 21.67 1,729 1,072 5
SD 882,412 882 19 25.29 528 124 7
NE 917,999 812 20 6.91 475 74 1
WI 103,757 648 22 2.65 417 0 26
MO 274,355 459 24 1.28 252 0 10

9. 3,200 Large Wind Turbines in Iowa
Mean Annual Wind Speed in Meters per Second at an 80-Meter Height
Map produced by Wind Utility Consulting, PC using 200-meter resolution mean annual wind
speed data developed by AWS True Power for the Iowa Energy Center in 2010. There are
approximately 3,200 large wind turbines plotted on the map Wind Utility Consulting, PC March 2015
Andrew T. Coil & Thomas A. Wind

10. 3,200 Large Wind Turbines in Iowa
Mean Annual Wind Speed in Meters per Second at an 80-Meter Height
Map produced by Wind Utility Consulting, PC using 200-meter resolution mean annual wind
speed data developed by AWS True Power for the Iowa Energy Center in 2010. There are
approximately 3,200 large wind turbines plotted on the map Wind Utility Consulting, PC March 2015
Andrew T. Coil & Thomas A. Wind

11. Location of Small and Midsized Wind Turbines in Iowa
Mean Annual Wind Speed in Meters per Second at an 80-Meter Height
Map produced by Andrew T. Coil based on data from Paul Rekow and Bill Haman. The map shows the location of
approximately 486 small wind turbines in Iowa. Small black dots represent 1-10 kW size, red dots represent 11-50 kW in
size, and blue dots represent 51 to 100 kW in size. The background is the 200-meter resolution mean annual wind speed
map developed by AWS True Power for the Iowa Energy Center in 2010.

12. Wind Energy Costs
• Capital costs
– technology advancements
– economies of scale
– utility scale wind farms are competitive with new fossil fuel power plants
– DOE reports declining PPA costs in central USA
• PPA cost = $50.00/MWh in 2009
• PPA cost = $22.40/MWh in 2014
• Capacity Factor improvements from 39% in 2009 to 47% in 2014
• Installed costs
– very small/hobby (<2.5 kW) = $8,200/kW
– small/residential (2.5 - 10 kW) - $7,200/kW
– medium/commercial (11 – 100 kW) - $6,000/kW
– large/utility scale (101 – 2,500 kW) - $6,000 - $1,500/kW

13. Windmatic 15S, 65 kW remanufactured
Endurance E-3120, 50 kW
Enertech Model 44, 40 kW

14. Small Wind Energy Challenges
• General lack of equipment standardization
– Small Wind Certification Council
• Third party independent testing
• General lack of specialized contractors
– North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners
(NABCEP)
• No certified professionals in Iowa
• Loss of manufacturers in the marketplace
– Quality and performance issues
– Warranty and service issues
• Steady to rising prices
• Higher than expected maintenance issues

15. Solar Energy– Why Should We
Care?
• New worldwide solar PV capacity exceeded new wind
farm capacity for the first time in 2013 by a 36.7 GW to
35.5 GW margin
– In 2012 – wind energy added 46.6 GW vs. 30.5 GW of PV
• Predicted worldwide total installed capacity growth
– Wind energy from 5% in 2012 to 17% in 2030
– Solar PV from 2% in 2012 to 16% by 2030
• U.S. doubled PV generation of 2013 in 2014 (EIA)
– 12,303 GWh in 2014 compared to 6,048 GWh in 2013
Bloomberg New Energy Finance

16. Challenges/Opportunities for Solar
Energy
• Historically high capital cost ($7- $10 /installed watt)
• Recent opportunities
– 2009-2013 economic recession depressed the world market for solar
modules
– World surplus of polycrystalline silicon
– Record low panel cost ( < $1 - $2/watt)
– Installed cost $2 - $5 per installed watt
– Numerous U.S. Federal, State, and utility based incentives
• Market adjustment for imbalance between Supply and Demand
– U.S. based Solyndra bankruptcy, August 2011
– Germany based Q-Cells bankruptcy, April 2012 (Germany’s largest)
– U.S. based Konarka Technologies bankruptcy, June 2012
– China based Suntech Power Holdings bankruptcy, March 2013
– Ernst & Young predict that half of solar manufacturers have or will
file for bankruptcy

17. Challenges/Opportunities for Solar
Energy
• General lack of Iowa-specific historic data
– Relatively few solar PV installations prior to 2013; most are not
monitored
– Majority of Iowa PV installations are located in eastern Iowa
• General lack of specialized contractors
– North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)
• Thirteen certified professionals in Iowa
– (44 certified professionals in WI, 44 certified professionals in MN)
• Urban based permitting issues

18. Silicon PV
Module
Solar Energy: Photovoltaic
Battery Storage
DC Load
Inverter
AC Load

19. Typical PV Modules
Single-crystalline Multi-crystalline
Thin Film Amorphous Silicon

20. U.S. Solar Resource

21. Iowa’s Solar Resource

22. Solar Energy in Iowa
• Rural Electric Cooperative Investments
– Farmers Electric Cooperative, Frytown
• 40 kW array member ownership
• 800 kW array PPA with Eagle Point Solar
– Western Iowa Power Cooperative
• 300 kW arrays member ownership in Denison and Onawa
– Heartland Power Cooperative, St. Ansgar
• 852 kW array member ownership
– North West REC, Orange City
• 39.4 kW array
• MidAmerican Energy Company
– Topaz Solar Farm, San Luis Obispo County, California, 550 MW
• 2nd largest solar PV farm in the world
– Considering solar energy community gardens in Iowa
• Alliant Energy
– 22 MW owned by 1,650 customers
– RFP for up to 10 MW

25. Maintenance - Vegetation

26. Maintenance Issue - Soiling

27. Maintenance – Snow/Shading

28. Iowa Energy Center
Home Series, Book 5 - Solar Energy
• How to booklet for residential/small commercial solar PV
– 32 pages
• Collaborative Effort and Authors
– Alliant Energy
– Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives
– Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities
– Iowa Energy Center
– Iowa Utilities Board
– MidAmerican Energy Co.
– Office of Consumer Advocate
• Scheduled February 2016 Availability
– Housed on the Iowa Energy Center website

29. Wind & Solar Energy Incentives
• Federal Investment Tax Credit
– 30% of eligible costs; no limit
– Wind energy phase out: 2017 (24%); 2018 (18%); 2019 (12%)
– Solar energy phase out: 2021 (26%) 2022 (22%); after 2022 (10%)
• Iowa Solar Energy Income Tax Credit
– 60% of federal income tax credit (18% of eligible costs)
– $5,000 limit for households, $20,000 limit for businesses
– Annual State allocation ($5 million for FY16)
• Must apply for the credit through IA Dept. of Revenue
– Sunset at end of 2016 for households
– Converts to 50% of federal after 2016 for business
• Accelerated Depreciation for business
• Alternate Energy Revolving Loan Program
• Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency
– www.dsireusa.org

30. Wind vs. Solar Energy
Comparison
Wind Energy
• Endurance E-3120
– 50 kW rating
– 120 ft. tower
• Located in Alta, IA
– Capacity factor = 41.6%
– Annual generation = 184,628 kWh
– Cost = $300,000 - $335,000
• Located in Washington, IA
– Capacity factor = 31.1%
– Annual generation = 135,240 kWh
– Cost = $300,000 - $335,000
Solar Energy
• Monocrystalline PV
– Cost = $3,000/kW
• Located in Alta, IA
– Capacity factor =16%
– 132 kW array = 184,628 kWh
– Cost = 395,600
• Located in Washington, IA
– Capacity factor = 16%
– 97 kW array = 135,240 kWh
– Cost = $290,000

31. Wind vs. Solar Energy
Comparison
Wind Energy
• One time sizing decision
• Limited turbine sizes
• Small footprint
• Turbines not standardized
• Regular maintenance
• Mechanical device
• Short warranties
• High capacity factors
• Noise issues
• Limited customer support
Solar Energy
• Easily expandable
• Flexibility sizing
• Large footprint
• Modules are standardized
• Nearly maintenance free
• No moving parts
• Long warranties
• Low capacity factors
• Silent
• Good customer support

32. ? Questions ?
Iowa Energy Center
www.iowaenergycenter.org
515-294-8819