The challenges of keeping up with solar

By Carolina Lopez

Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers installed a solar panel field in 2009. Since then, solar technology has advanced, making FGCU’s 15-acre solar array field less efficient than it could be, according to Jim Hehl, the director of FGCU’s physical plant.

Jim Hehl, Florida Gulf Coast University’s director of the Physical Plant, stands in front of the first row of solar panels at the university’s solar field in Fort Myers, Florida. The panels are rotated by a motorized gear to catch the rays. (Photo by Carolina Lopez)

He said that about 15 percent of the campus is powered by the 2-megawatt field. Powering the entire campus with solar would require more land, Hehl said, and much more money.

The solar technology has advanced greatly over the last decades in terms of operation and efficiency.

“I don’t see us to a near 100 percent,” Hehl said, “but I could see us in the future adding some solar installations again if the money is available.”

The recent advances in solar technology include improvements in the quality of the materials for panels and better energy storage methods. Manufacturers are building better photovoltaic systems and ways they can be applied.

FGCU initially received $8 million in state funding to install solar with another 48 million provided by a contracted private entity that would own and maintain the solar field. Now the university owns and maintains it because the private entity is no longer in business.

FGCU still relies on FPL to deliver what isn’t powered by the solar field.

The issue with space is easier to solve than the funding issue, said Danvers Johnston, FGCU assistant professor of environmental and renewable energy engineering.

The solar panels work by taking the sunlight through the glass-covered antiglare-coated material onto a semiconductor. Once the light goes through the negative side of the semiconductor, the electrons discharge in the silicone and flow to the positive side, which creates an electrical current. At the end of each row of panels, the electricity is routed to an underground network and a computer program directs the system into the best position to capture sunlight. (Photo by Carolina Lopez)

“There’s a certain amount of sunlight that land receives. We have to increase the area we are devoting to solar if we want to make that percentage higher,” Johnston said.

Finding solutions that eliminate further harm to the land and environment is also important for adaptation. Johnston proposes putting solar panels on the rooftops of buildings instead of cutting down trees.

“You can utilize the rooftop if you wanted to,” said Johnston. “The sun doesn’t care, area is area.”

But according to Hehl, in 2009 the physical plant studied the possibility of rooftop solar and concluded that they would not entertain it because the structural issues for weight that it created.

“It was too pricey and voided roofing warranties,” Hehl said.

He believes that if FGCU built the same size field in another location it would increase to roughly 32 percent of FGCU’s power demand.

When the university is able to allocate more money for solar power, the money will go further, according to Hehl, given these advances. He said the payback is far greater now in terms of efficiency and the lower cost of installation materials. Hehl said this gives him hope for strengthening FGCU’s commitment to solar energy.