2014-15 (FY15) Request for Proposal: UST Campus Sustainability Fund
Your proposal must include all of the following sections, in this format, or it
will not be reviewed. Bold section titles should be retained; italicized
instructions may be removed.
Submit the Final Proposal by March 31 at 5 p.m. to Suzanne
Krzmarzick at suzanne@stthomas.edu
Please follow this outline for your Proposal
1. Project Title: Solar, Sustainability and the University of Saint Thomas
2. Primary Applicant:
Paul Lorah – Department of Geography
palorah@stthomas.edu
962-5566
3. Secondary Applicant:
Geography 331 - Conservation Geography Students
2. Other proposal support:
3.
*If funded, the installer on this project will be Cedar Creek Energy.
*Cedar Creek presented the project to Jim Brummer, Mark Vangsgard, Jane Canney, Joe
Kreitzer, Bob Douglas and Mark Neuzil On Feb. 18th.
*Cedar Creek has already been paid $1,500 by UST to complete the building analysis,
proposal agreement and the paperwork for 3 entries into the Minnesota Made Solar
Lottery. Two of these entries were selected for funding.
*UST signed a preliminary contract with Cedar Creek Energy for two 40 kW systems (see
Appendix 1 for a copy of one of these contracts). This agreement has not been finalized – it
is contingent on UST funding availability.
5. Overview and purpose of the project:
Include a description of how your project will directly benefit and address
sustainability at the University of St. Thomas campuses. See the website for
more detail about the types of projects the CSF is designed to support.
This grant requests $20,000 to fund a portion of either one or two 40 kW solar arrays.
Each array would consist of 96 solar panels manufactured by tenK Solar. Each 40kW solar
array will cost $144,320.
The solar panels would be located on UST buildings (likely the Anderson Student Center
and/or the Anderson Athletic & Recreation Complex) and would be partially funded by the
Made in Minnesota Solar Energy Program Lottery. Funding from this lottery would pay UST
20 cents per kWh for 10 years.
Despite the rebate and lowered electrical bill, it will still take time to pay back the solar
panel array. That is why we are asking the Campus Sustainability Fund to provide $20,000
toward the initial cost of the solar panel array. This will help pay a portion of the cost
upfront. While this grant will not lower the overall cost of the panels to UST, it supports
the university’s mission and displays our commitment to sustainability. Rerouting $20,000
from the Campus Sustainability Fund to the solar panel array also provides us students
with real-world experience. Grant writing and helping to create change within our
university not only adds to our skill set; both also looks good to employers on resumes.
We believe that funding this grant will help UST actively engage students in promoting our
mission, enhance active learning, attract high quality students and lower our carbon
footprint in a visible, inspiring way.
Solar Panels, Mission and Education
Many UST students are deeply concerned by the environmental challenges their generation
faces. They are also attracted to the opportunities offered by green technologies and
renewable energy. We expect that a wide range of professors will use the solar panels as a
rooftop laboratory where students are actively involved in studying and addressing
environmental challenges. Large solar arrays are also an inspiring, visible sign of our support
for campus sustainability and a sign we take mission seriously.
This grant is an opportunity to actively engage students in promoting campus sustainability,
which is one important component of the University’s mission. In addition to helping fund the
solar array with this grant, students would benefit from classes that would use the solar panels
to teach about climate, electrical engineering, chemistry, energy markets and urban
sustainability, among other topics.
To gauge faculty interest in incorporating solar panels in their classrooms and labs, an email
was sent to approximately 20 faculty members – 9 faculty from 6 departments responded
positively. Ideas from these emails include:
* The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface varies with atmospheric conditions.
Students in Geography’s Weather and Climate course would use the solar panel power
generation hourly profiles as a proxy of atmospheric clarity and link it to percent cloud cover or
atmospheric haze.
*Environmental Studies students would study energy markets by tracking the income
generated by solar panels and the value of the carbon offsets they generate.
*Engineering professors are interested in using data on the panel’s electrical production to
analyze the effect of environmental conditions (like temperature) on panel performance.
* Biology 409, Urban Ecosystem Ecology, has a unit that focuses on the CO2 footprint of
cities. Having a solar energy lab on campus would create exciting possibilities for hands-on
research, where students could take real-time data and estimate how much of our energy
demand could be met by solar power under different scenarios.
*Professors teaching CHEM 101 (Environmental Chemistry) and CHEM 115 (Accelerated
General Chemistry) plan to incorporate the solar panels into their classes.
*The ENGR123 class taught by Professor Camille George and Professor Greg Mowry would love
to have access to a roof with solar panels for the Energy and the Environment course. They
currently have a lab on solar concentrators and have 3 solar dishes. They also have a full lab on
photovoltaics to evaluate parallel and series options. They evaluate what we can power with
the different configurations but are using small voltage panels of a few inches by a few inches
and are working with spotlights for our solar energy source. To increase authentic engineering
work and applications with more power, the use of full size panels outside would benefit
greatly the students involved and the credibility of our class.
*Solar panels would also be beneficial to students in Society and Sustainability (ENVR 212).
One of the units in the course is to analyze different solutions to environmental issues. Having
solar panels on campus would enable students to investigate the performance of a renewable
energy solution in their own backyard.
Solar Panels and Environmental Benefits
Solar panels replace coal and natural gas with clean, renewable, locally generated power. The
result is decreased emissions of pollutants such as mercury, sulfur and nitrogen. Each solar
panel will also prevent the emission of several tons of CO2 over its lifetime (see below). This is
important, as UST pledged to go climate neutral when Father Dennis Dease signed the
American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment in 2008. Solar panels will help us
meet this commitment by limiting our reliance on fossil fuels.
Solar Panels Attract the Best High School Students
UST wants to attract increasingly high quality students, ones with high test scores and a desire
to get actively involved in solving real-world problems. If UST wants to exceed admissions goals,
solar panels are a great way to get the attention of top high school students. Our new Student
Center would look even better with solar panels on it!
6. How the project will be implemented:
Provide details about the operational feasibility of your project. If you need
support from any affected campus individuals and departments (e.g., if the
physical plant needs to be involved with installation or purchasing), please
attach letter of support. This support must be secured prior to submitting the
application for the proposal to be considered. If you received any concerns
about your project or discovered potential barriers to its implementation as a
result of seeking support from any affected campus individuals and/or
departments, please include that information as well.
*Physical Plant has already paid Cedar Creek energy $1,500 to analyze UST roofs and design the
solar arrays.
*As part of this contract, Cedar Creek Energy entered three UST roofs into the Made in
Minnesota Solar Energy Program Lottery. Two of our roofs were selected for funding this week.
*The contract with Cedar Creek is for two $144,000 40 kW solar arrays. At this point, UST may
choose to fund both arrays, fund one array or fund none. We hope that this grant will
encourage UST to move forward by demonstrating UST community support for solar and by
involving students in the project from the beginning.
*Appendix A is a copy of our contract with Cedar Creek for one of the two solar arrays. (The
second contract for the second array is virtually identical).
7. Budget: Fartun & Sarah
Include an itemized budget and, if appropriate, specific details about
equipment or materials. Please note that funds will not be allocated for wages
(student or professional staff compensation). In addition, funds may not be
used for items that will become personal items to a recipient e.g., water bottles,
t-shirts, etc. The expectation is that all funds will be expended within the 201415 Fiscal Year; requests for extensions beyond June 30, 2015 will be considered
on a case-by-case basis and should be justified in this section.
Solar panels are a long-term investment. While the payoff is not immediate, the ancillary
benefits, energy produced, and amount of money saved long-term makes the investment
worthwhile. Thanks to the Cedar Creek Energy bid, we have an estimate for the cost of the
panels and related materials. According to their estimate, we could install one 40kW solar panel
system for $144,320, or two arrays for $288,640.
Please see section 12 for details on rebates, lower energy bills and estimated payback times.
8.
Include defined metrics for a clearly measurable outcome and a
schedule of appropriate progress reports to the CSF through the
duration of the project:
Updates should be provided at approximately 6-month intervals. All funded
projects must submit a final report within 60 days of the completion of the
project. If a project has continuing benefits such as an annual cost savings or
carbon reduction or educational benefit, the project plan should include plans
for tracking, recording, and reporting such benefits back to the CSF on an
annual basis for a minimum of three years. Submitters of any funded project
plan who fail to complete progress or final reports are ineligible to receive any
future funding from the CSF.
To track the outcome of this grant, students in Geography and Environmental Studies will:
*Track the amount of electricity generated by the panels
*Estimate the amount of money saved as a result of lower energy costs
*Estimate reductions in carbon emissions.
This information will be made available for display on the UST sustainability web page, and
students will deliver progress reports to the Campus Sustainability committee each
semester.
9. If your project will offset greenhouse gases and reduce the campus
carbon footprint, describe thoroughly how this will happen:
Given our latitude and climate, the state of Minnesota estimates that a 40 kW commercial
solar array will generate over 56,000 kWh of energy per year.
Cedar Creek Energy will provide software that allows us to calculate the electrical
production of the solar array(s) in real-time. This data will be made available for display on
the UST sustainability web page. It is likely that the building(s) housing solar panels will
also have a flat panel display showing energy production and consumption as well.
Typical solar “dashboards,” such as the one below, show energy production, cost savings
and estimated carbon savings per minute, day, month and year.
These are general estimates, however. Carbon savings vary from one utility trade area to
the next. Our students would be asked to calculate more accurate carbon savings based on
the mix of coal, natural gas and renewable energy used by Xcel
Early estimates by conservation Geography students indicate that a single 40kW system in
Minnesota would offset 90,200 pounds of carbon every year. (The panels are guaranteed for 25
years). Two 40 kW systems are estimated to offset 4.5 million pounds of carbon emissions over
the next 25 years.
The actual "social cost of carbon" is hard to determine, with estimates ranging anywhere from
$5 to $900 a ton, but Minnesota's decision to find the real impact of clean energy on multiple
levels is a monumental feat. As a university located in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, UST could
help further Minnesota's cleaner energy mission. If we want to find the true value of solar
electricity, and not just the dollar amount, we have to invest in them first.
10. Describe if and how students will be involved and/or the educational
value to our community: RACHEL SWEET, Benn Hulbert
Adding solar panels at UST would have many far-reaching implications for student involvement
and community education around campus. For students, there is great potential for use of the
panels as “real-life” case studies in classes. Data concerning the amount of energy saved by
UST, solar radiation converted by the panels, or the yearly efficiency of the new system could
be analyzed by students in many different disciplines (i.e. biology, geography, finance).
Similarly, having the panels physically on campus for observation by students may open the
door for interdisciplinary conversations concerning renewable energy. Awareness mechanisms
such as a tablet or plaque in the buildings that house solar panels could be used to illustrate the
benefits of solar panels and provide more information about how they work.
The UST community, including alumni and others involved on campus, would also benefit from
the presence of solar panels. By making a commitment to renewable energy, perceptions
concerning the values and mission of St. Thomas may change for the better. Incoming students
and those searching for a campus committed to sustainability would be more inclined to
choose to attend St. Thomas. Over time, this process could shift the underlying value set of the
students at St. Thomas, thus benefiting the community as a whole. Additionally, those
community members interested in sustainability would have a local way to be involved and to
learn more about renewable energy. This could then link St. Thomas and the surrounding
community more tightly and allow for positive relationships between the two.
11. Highlight innovations and the potential for the project to be scalable
across our campuses: Hung Le
UST has a number of roofs suitable for solar panels, and two 40 kW solar arrays will only cover a
portion of them. Because solar is easily scalable, our hope is to show that solar arrays attract
high quality students, demonstrate our commitment to campus sustainability, actively engage
students in research and pay for themselves in less than 8 years. If this proves to be the case,
this $20,000 Campus Sustainability Grant could be the first step towards an even more
impressive solar presence on campus.
12. If applicable, include lifecycle costs, possible investment payback
schedules and potential long-term savings:
This grant requests $20,000 to help fund a portion of UST’s investment in solar. The University
has the option of purchasing either one or two 40 kW arrays.
For one 40 kW solar array:
Some Conservation Geography students estimated the costs and savings associated with one 40
kW system – see Appendix 2 for calculations.
Cost
The up-front cost of each 40 kW system is $144,320. The panels are guaranteed for 25 years,
though they are expected to last longer.
Savings
As a result of winning the Minnesota Made Solar Lottery, Xcel will pay UST 20 cents per kW
hour for 10 years. This will result in an estimated payment of $11,337 per year for ten years- a
total rebate of $113,370.
The electricity generated by our panels will lower UST energy costs by approximately $5,100
per year. This assumes that we pay 9 cents per kW hour for the 25 year life of the system – a
total savings of $127,525. It seems likely that the price of electricity will increase over the next
25 years (please see Appendix 4). If this is the case, the value of our panels will increase as well.
This means that our estimated savings of $127,525 is likely conservative. This may be partially
offset by the fact that the output of solar panels declines slightly over their lifetime.
When combined with a $20,000 Campus Sustainability Fund grant, the payback time for one
solar array is less than 8 years. Net profit over 25 the life of the array is estimated to be
$96,604. ($260,924 (total savings) - $144,320 (cost) -$20,000 (CSF grant) = $96,604).
For two 40 kW solar arrays:
Appendix 3 displays the estimates for two 40 kW systems. The only difference is that the
$20,000 Campus Sustainability Grant would be split between the two systems, providing
$10,000 for each. While the numbers are similar, payback time is slightly longer, just over eight
years.
Appendix 1. Contract with Cedar Creek Energy.
Appendix 2. Estimated Payback Time for 1 40 kW system with $20,000 CSF Grant – Less than 8 years.
Appendix 3. Estimated Payback Time for two 40 kW system with $20,000 CSF Grant – Just over 8 years.
Appendix 4. Trends in Minnesota Electricity Costs