Geneva officials eye building solar facilities

Geneva officials are looking at the feasibility of building a site to access solar energy on city-owned property.

Electric Superintendent Aaron Holton presented a series of location possibilities and cost estimates at a special Committee of the Whole on May 12, based on direction from a 2023 strategic planning session.

“We, as staff, also asked, ‘What’s the inevitable? How much can we put there? How much is it going to cost?’” Holton said.

To get answers, the city pout out requests for proposals for engineering and consulting services.

Interface Engineering Inc. of Chicago was chosen, to identify suitable sites in Geneva, estimate costs and outline a path forward, Holton said.

They identified seven sites for solar substations – but alderpersons eliminated the biggest location, 300 acres of Prairie Green – because it would go against the use voters approved in a referendum.

Holton compared solar energy production in July and December, having to do with the sun’s angle and length of days.

The others sites were:

• Fire Station No. 1, 200 East Side Drive, for rooftop mounted, 80 kW that would produce 14,200 kWh in July and 5,300 kWh in December.

• The Third Street parking facility, canopy cover, 745 kW, 155,000 kWh in July and 38,000 in December.

• Wastewater Treatment Facility, 602 Crissey Ave., 700 kW capacity, 143,000 in July, 51,000 in December.

• Geneva Generating Facility, 2088 Geneva Drive, little over 1 MW or megawatt, which is 1 million watts, 217,000 kWh in July, 80,000 in December.

• Public Works rooftop, 1800 South St., 890 kW, 174,000 kWh output in July, 43,052 in December.

• Fire Station No. 2, 2530 Fargo Boulevard, rooftop, 66 kW, 11,400 kW in July, 4,600 in December.

A kilowatt hour about how much it takes to run a dishwasher for one hour; or to run a refrigerator for 20 hours.

Alderpersons narrowed their choices to the Geneva Generation Facility and the wastewater sites for further research.

But other considerations included cost to build, ongoing maintenance, battery storage, renewable energy credits and purchase power agreements.

Various scenarios cost millions, but also provide millions in annual energy savings. The ability to store solar energy in batteries is also a factor, giving more capacity and savings.

“The goal of the Geneva City Council for a long time has been to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and produce renewables,” Holton said.

The full presentation will be posted to the city’s website www.geneva.il.us.