Page 154 - Alternative Energy Systems in Building Design

130 SOLAR POWER SYSTEM PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGIES

use, which is unique to each application. The solar power installed represents about
25 percent of the total demand load. Since the school is closed during the summer,
energy credit cumulated for 3 months is expected to augment the overall solar power
cogeneration contribution to about 70 percent of overall demand.

REMOTE SOLAR POWER FARM IN A DESERT SETTING

Project design criteria The project described here is a 200-kW solar power farm
cogeneration system installed in Boron, California, a desert setting. The design and
estimating procedures of this project are similar to those of the two projects already
described.
In view of the vast project terrain, this project was constructed by use of relatively
inexpensive, lower-efficiency film-technology PV cells that have an estimated effi-
ciency of about 8 percent. Frameless PV panels were secured on 2-in Unistrut chan-
nels, which were mounted on telephone poles that penetrated deep within the desert
sand. The power produced from the solar farm is being used by the local Indian reser-
vation. The project is shown in Fig. 3.66.

WATER AND LIFE MUSEUM, HEMET, CALIFORNIA
Project description This project is located in Hemet, California, an hour-and-a-
half drive from downtown Los Angeles. The project consists of a 150-acre campus
with a Water Education Museum, sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District and
the Water Education Board and Archaeology and Paleontology Museum sponsored by

Figure 3.66 Boron solar PV farm. Photo courtesy of Grant Electric.