Motorcars Honda, now using solar panels to generate up to 70 percent of the electricity it needs, will host a Green Energy Ohio solar conference July 23.
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Ohio lawmakers have "frozen" state renewable energy standards until 2017, but somebody forgot to tell businesses to stop building on-site solar.
There are nearly 1,600 privately owned solar arrays in Ohio with a total generating capacity of more than 120 megawatts. That's the latest count by Green Energy Ohio, a statewide renewable energy advocacy group, using data from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Eight years ago, Green Energy Ohio hosted a national solar conference in Cleveland and was hard pressed to find any solar here.
"We could not even find even one megawatt in the entire state," said William Spratley, GEO executive director. Most arrays were small residential systems with the capacity to generate 3,000 to 4,000 watts, described at 3 to 4 kilowatts in the industry.
But that has changed dramatically.
Businesses -- from Walmart to General Motors -- are building solar. These are big solar arrays, measured in thousands of watts, and occasionally in millions of watts, or megawatts.
Businesses are taking advantage of a 30 percent tax credit, good through Dec. 31, 2016, and they are financing the projects with low-cost loans or lease arrangements.
Sure, it's about "saving" the environment, but it's also about the bottom line. Solar power right now makes financial sense, because of the tax credit, creative financing, improvements in efficiency and rapidly falling prices.
Cloudy Northeast Ohio is no exception to the phenomenal growth, said Spratley.
There are now 30 large solar arrays in the region with a total generating capacity of nearly 13 megawatts, GEO's analysis of state records shows.
The phenomenal growth has continued despite the Ohio's two-year "freeze" on state-mandates requiring utilities to sell annually increasing amounts of green power.
These privately owned power plants are tied to FirstEnergy or American Electric Power's local distribution grid, lowering demand for utility-generated power every day, and at times generating more electricity than they need, sending the excess to the grid.
Northeast Ohio's 30th large commercial solar array went on line recently at Motorcars Honda, in Cleveland Heights. It can generate up to 335,000 watts, or 335 kilowatts.
Chuck Gile, Motorcars president, said the large array of more than 1,200 panels held in two barrel-shaped canopies high over the dealership's outdoor lot generates 65 percent to 70 percent of the power used by the business.
Built at a cost of about $1.7 million, the enormous array is part of a $6 million renovation that will include another solar array covering a second parking lot and similar set of solar canopies that will be built across Mayfield Road at Motorcars Toyota.
The project also includes a new facility for routine maintenance such as oil changes and tire rotations. The new service center will function like a production line and is designed to allow customers to watch as their vehicle is moved down the line.
Gile said investing in solar just makes good business sense, given the tax credits and financing available.
"Yes, we are helping saving the polar bears," he said. "We owe it to our customers to help save the environment."
That kind of attitude caught Spratley's attention at Green Energy Ohio. Motorcars Honda has agreed to host GEO's Northeast Ohio's solar conference July 23. The conference is open to the public, but there is a registration fee that includes lunch, valet parking and a tour of the dealership's array.
Presentations explaining low-cost solar financing and an overview of the solar industry's accelerating growth are the main topics.
For more information and to register on-line, go to greenenergyoh.org and click on "upcoming events." Or click here.