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“This culminates an eight-year long effort to make our warehouse more energy efficient,” said Randall Lewis, Walsh director of operations. “We had gradually been able to cut our power consumption over the years by upgrading with more energy efficient systems. Federal stimulus funding and passage of the Missouri Proposition C Clean Energy Initiative in 2008 spurred additional investment in solar panels to drastically cut our energy costs.”
Walsh estimates the solar panel installation will pay for itself in five years through a combination of Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) and credits from Ameren through net metering. Net metering allows people with renewable energy systems to earn money or credit from utility companies for energy they produce.
“During the fall season and other times of the year when air conditioning is not really needed, the solar panels can produce more power than our building needs,” said Lewis. “That excess is returned to the grid for Ameren to use, giving us a credit. We estimate that over the anticipated 25-year life span of the solar panels we could realize a return of investment of an additional $500,000 or even more if electrical rates increase. But to get that kind of return on our investment, we needed to make sure the solar panels were installed properly. That’s why we went with an IBEW Local 1 contractor.”
Each panel contains a Tigo Energy module that allows Walsh to remotely monitor the effectiveness of each panel. “It requires not only a thorough understanding of how inverters convert DC power into AC power, but requires skill to match the amplitude of the AC sine wave that Ameren has on the grid so the net metering can measure power produced and used accurately,” said Mike Meyers, an IBEW Local 1 electrician who worked for Bell on the project. “Without that precision, Walsh can’t optimize its investment in the panels.”
Designed by Straight up Solar of St. Louis, the solar panel installation was managed by Bell Electrical Contractors using four IBEW Local 1 electricians. It consists of 32 strings of panels with 13 panels on each string with each string capable of producing 480 volts. The entire array covers 10,000 square feet of Walsh’s roof and can produce 130,000 to 135,000 kilovolts annually.
“Renewable energy installations are becoming increasingly complex as businesses seek a greater return on investment,” said Stephen P. Schoemehl, business manager for IBEW Local 1. “So we’ve put a special emphasis on keeping pace with renewable energy installations at the Electrical Industry Training Center where IBEW Local 1 electricians are trained and upgrade skills.” The training center is operated by the Electrical Connection a partnership of IBEW Local 1 and the St. Louis Chapter of the National Electrical Contractor’s Association (NECA). More information can found at www.stlejatc.org.
Chemical distributor Walsh & Associates represents many suppliers including AkzoNobel; Ball Corp.; Chemia Corp.; DuPont; Evonik Industries; Ferro; Eaton Corp.; Lubrizol Corp.; Momentive Performance Materials Holdings Inc.; and more. Based in St. Louis, Walsh also has regional offices in Kansas City, Mo., Denver, Col., Memphis, Tenn., Salt Lake City, Utah, Dallas, Tex., and Kalamazoo, Mich. More information can be found at www.walsh-assoc.com.
Based in St. Louis, Straight up Solar is a North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certified photovoltaic installer. More can be found at www.straightupsolar.com
Members of the Electrical Connection provide safe and reliable electrical construction, maintenance, repair and replacement services across eastern Missouri. Learn more about the Electrical Connection at www.electricalconnection.org.
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