Photovoltaics on Landfills in Puerto Rico

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2011

OSTI ID:1045739

Salasovich, J; Mosey, G

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in accordance with the RE-Powering America's Land initiative, selected the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for a feasibility study of m0treAlables on several brownfield sites. The EPA defines a brownfield as 'a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.' All of the brownfields in this study are landfill sites. Citizens of Puerto Rico, city planners, and site managers are interested in redevelopment uses for landfills in Puerto Rico, which are particularly well suited for solar photovoltaic (PV) installation. The purpose of this report is to assess the landfills with the highest potential for possible solar PV installation and estimate cost, performance, and site impacts of three different PV options: crystalline silicon (fixed-tilt), crystalline silicon (single-axis tracking), and thin film (fixed-tilt). Each option represents a standalone system that can be sized to use an entire available site area. In addition, the report outlines financing options that could assist in the implementation of a system. The feasibility of PV systems installed on landfills is highly impacted by the available area for an array, solar resource, operating status, landfill cap status, distance to transmission lines, and distance to major roads. All of the landfills in Puerto Rico were screened according to these criteria in order to determine the sites with the greatest potential. Eight landfills were chosen for site visits based on the screening criteria and location. Because of time constraints and the fact that Puerto Rico is a relatively large island, the eight landfills for this visit were all located in the eastern half of the island. The findings from this report can be applied to landfills in the western half of the island. The economics of a potential PV system on landfills in Puerto Rico depend greatly on the cost of electricity. Currently, PREPA has an average electric rate of $0.119/kWh. Based on past electric rate increases in Puerto Rico and other islands in the Caribbean, this rate could increase to $0.15/kWh or higher in a relatively short amount of time. In the coming years, increasing electrical rates and increased necessity for clean power will continue to improve the feasibility of implementing solar PV systems at these sites.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Environmental Protection Agency; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1045739
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-7A40-50670
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ECONOMICS
ELECTRICITY
FINANCING
IMPLEMENTATION
ISLANDS
PERFORMANCE
POWER TRANSMISSION LINES
PUERTO RICO
PV
RE-Powering America's Land
SANITARY LANDFILLS
SILICON
THIN FILMS
US EPA
photovoltaics
redevelopment
solar