[Thomas Dai]

Are there any practical linkages between solar power* and golf already? Can we foresee some (more) in the future?
Just curious.
Thoughts and examples welcome.
atb


* doesn’t have to be just solar, other ‘alternatives’ welcome - wind, wave, woodchip, biomass etc etc

[Adam Lawrence]

This is pretty brilliant.


http://www.solardrive.com/us-en.aspx

[jeffwarne]

Sebonack has those solar panels on carts.
Not economically viable at a short season club-yet.


Solar panels could certainly be installed in the vast acreage available between tees at many modern courses

[Rich Goodale]

Sebonack has those solar panels on carts.
Not economically viable at a short season club-yet.


Solar panels could certainly be installed in the vast acreage available between tees at many modern courses

Yeah.  Over here in the UK, that would be cool to walk from tee to green surrounded by glass, metal and silicon rather than gorse.  Not!

[Don Mahaffey]

At Wolf Point Club we did extensive research on solar. We learned quite a few things but without question #1 was the agreement with your electrical supplier. We can go on and on about sustainability and green energy but the bottom line is power generation is huge business and the people making money off that aren't thrilled with everybody deciding to develop personal power plants which is what residential or commercial solar is.
We negotiated with our provider for over a year and eventually reached a deal that gave us a nine year payback on the investment required to develop a solar field that made the course and surrounding ranch basically energy neutral. If we ever ended up generating more power than we used in a month, we got almost nothing because the energy supplier to our local provider had an exclusive deal that didn't allow our local provider to buy energy from any other entity. So the key was to size the investment so we could build a solar field just big enough to get us close to neutral - basically no electric costs.
We were literally scheduled to ink the deal the week our owner had his accident and the idea has now been shelved. 

There is no question in my mind that solar makes sense as long as you have an energy provider motivated to work with customers using solar. If you don't, and I met many solar owners who were extremely frustrated with their providers, then it doesn't make much sense financially, but if you want to go green.....

[SB]

I've looked into it a bit and one problem is that our golf course has is that energy use is at night, so you don't get the big benefit of cheap energy.  So then as Don says, it comes down to the economics of putting it in as a general solar plant which is greatly dependent on state incentives.

[Don Mahaffey]

It really shouldn't matter about time of day use. You have a meter that turns both ways - most of the time what you put on the grid is worth less than what you take which can be fair since the grid basically stores your power.
Its all about how it nets out over your billing period. Hopefully you have a system sized to net out close to zero on your average monthly use. 
If you size your field to net out even on your heavy use months then you're probably giving away power on your average months and have too many panels.

[SB]

It really shouldn't matter about time of day use. You have a meter that turns both ways - most of the time what you put on the grid is worth less than what you take which can be fair since the grid basically stores your power.
Its all about how it nets out over your billing period. Hopefully you have a system sized to net out close to zero on your average monthly use. 
If you size your field to net out even on your heavy use months then you're probably giving away power on your average months and have too many panels.

The current program where I live is that you sell into the system at a fixed price, which is about 50% of what you buy at.  So, if you use what you generate, you save 100%.  But if you can't use it, you only save 50%.

[Jeff Shelman]

The superintendent at Meadow Club posted a video on Twitter recently of work being done to install solar panels behind the 15th tee.

I don't know what the plan is there - renting space to a utility, installing to generate power for the club, something else - but it's interesting.

[Tim Gavrich]

Nine-holer Northport Creek in MI leans on solar power considerably: http://northportcreek.com/golf-course/

[Blake Conant]

Developing more efficient, longer lasting ways to store power would restore a bit of leverage to the client in Don's situation.  This likely comes in the form of more efficient, higher capacity batteries. 


Bandon could install wind or wave turbines, but as Don pointed out, the real benefit isn't viable yet.  The potential to offset a large portion of their energy costs hinges on the marriage of wind/wave turbines and high capacity batteries.

[Sean_Tully]

As noted by Jeff, we are currently installing a solar array behind our shop that will provide up to 40% of our energy use and save us close to 60% on our energy bills over the life of the system. This is our third solar array on the property and by far the largest at 235kW that will produce 380,000 kW's per year. Our other array is 21kW that offsets our energy use at our maintenance facility. Our third array offsets our energy use for charging golf carts and is closer to 7kW-- we already have the old WattMiser system from Clubcar that charges golf carts in non-peak times. On a side note, we also have a system of solar collectors that we use to heat our pool water that was rather inexpensive.


The financing is still being figured out and has taken a long time to get to where we are today. Add in all the permitting and downtime between site surveys for endangered species and environmental concerns of construction and water runoff-- don't expect things to move along too fast!


It is nice to see Meadow Club taking advantage of solar power and to see the interest that a large portion of our members have in the clubs effort to save money while also reducing our energy use footprint.


Tully

[Joe Hancock]

Tully,


The alternative energy discussion is important, yet I’ve witnessed some of the other practices that you and your club engaged in that are as valuable; Mowing frequency of fairways, for instance. When I was on site this past summer for a week of work, your fairways were mown a total of 2 times....2-3 times less than many clubs over a 6 day span...and that’s your normal program. Energy saving without all the horn tooting and buzzwords associated with other efforts(which I do view as important, btw). Conrats on all fronts of sustainability!

[Mike_Trenham]

Here’s a success story from Hidden Creek in NJ.



http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/water-resource-center/bmp-case-studies/2017/installing-solar-panels-to-reduce-energy-costs.html

[astavrides]

Here's a link to a few other courses with solar installations, including the course I played yesterday, Santa Ana in New Mexico. It's solar array doubles as a parking canopy, which is useful also, especially in the summer.


http://www.apcoworldwide.com/blog/detail/apcoforum/2015/07/24/solar-energy-on-the-golf-course-the-benefits-outweigh-the-potential-burn


https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2015/07/installation-notes-solar-so-beautiful-this-golf-clubs-proud-to-show-it-off/


and then there are the courses, which give way to solar arrays (Japan).
http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/tech/abandoned-japanese-golf-courses-to-become-solar-power-plants/

[Nathan Gingrich]

I have the solar drive on my golf cart and it extends my battery life a solid three hours on a sunny day. That said I can’t park it outside and go to a meeting expecting it to be recharged when I come out. It merely extends the battery life.

[Pat Burke]

for those who have looked, I'm surprised courses here in southern Cal, especially desert, haven't converted some parking to covered parking with solar panels above?  Cars get unbearably hot sitting all day, and I would imagine there would be some serious energy recovery for a/c, carts charging, and other?

[Jeff Shelman]

Tully,

I think it is great that you guys are doing this.

Too many clubs - including mine - drive me crazy because they don't seem to even separate the recycling from the trash. What you guys are doing is wonderful. It's the right thing and hopefully over time will be financially beneficial as well. My day job is at a place that recently said we were going to cut our carbon emissions by 60 percent by 2020, so I have a sense of how difficult this stuff is to get done.

[astavrides]

for those who have looked, I'm surprised courses here in southern Cal, especially desert, haven't converted some parking to covered parking with solar panels above?  Cars get unbearably hot sitting all day, and I would imagine there would be some serious energy recovery for a/c, carts charging, and other?

That system is sized to offset 95% of the electricity use of the golf course and restaurant according to the article. That's the same way residential solar installations are sized.

[JLahrman]

Here in Austin TX, William Morris is a local muni that has solar panels installed on the roof of the clubhouse, not sure what % of their energy needs it supplies but it's good to see.

I put solar panels on my house this past spring. Don is right in that you have to have an agreement with your local provider that allows them to buy your excess power back from you. ESPECIALLY here in Texas where electric bills are crazy high in the summer due to air conditioning in the Hades-like heat we have here, and next to nothing in the winter (at least for me, because I have gas heat). Otherwise you have to put in a battery system to store your excess power, which is an unwanted expense.

I generated a ton of power in August, but it was only 74% of my usage because of the summer heat. I'm about to wrap up producing 110% of my usage in October. Overall my system is expected to produce 94% of my usage based on my past bills, but that varies widely from month to month.

Austin does buy back my power, actually at a slightly higher rate than I get billed for the power I use. So if I produce exactly 100% of my usage in a month, I make a slight bit of money (though that's not really why I put in the system).

I've got about an 11-year payback period though that depends on future electric rates. I also could have looked into financing my panels a bit differently than I wound up doing, which was kind of a miss on my part. But overall I'm glad to have put in the panels. And given the size of some of the golf clubhouses and cart barns, they are prime candidates for solar panels, so it's good to see some courses putting them in.

[Dave McCollum]

We don't have solar.  We have hydro.  We did a twenty year contract with the provider and pretty much produced as much as we used.  When the 20 years was up.  The provider said they would only pay 10% of what they paid under the contract.  That hurts, so Don is right.  It's all about having the right contract. Hydro, of course, is 24/7 and very dependable.

[Sean_Tully]

Tully,The alternative energy discussion is important, yet I’ve witnessed some of the other practices that you and your club engaged in that are as valuable; Mowing frequency of fairways, for instance. When I was on site this past summer for a week of work, your fairways were mown a total of 2 times....2-3 times less than many clubs over a 6 day span...and that’s your normal program. Energy saving without all the horn tooting and buzzwords associated with other efforts(which I do view as important, btw). Conrats on all fronts of sustainability!

Joe--


Thanks, we can be like everyone else, or figure some things out that meet our needs here. Mowing less = less wear on mowers, less noise for golfers, and more time to work on bunkers!! Speaking on the industry as a whole: There is a balancing act going on right now as we struggle to fill positions in our labor force and still meet the expectations of golfers. Its hard to keep coming up with solutions where most of us have already tapped out, or at the other spectrum where we have taken things to the edge one too many times. As our annual expenses continue to rise and concerns over water and pesticide use will limit our management practices into the foreseeable future, golf needs to step back and shift the baseline for what level of management is sustainable. Solar is one facet that can help, but it is only delaying the inevitable.


Tully

[A.G._Crockett]

for those who have looked, I'm surprised courses here in southern Cal, especially desert, haven't converted some parking to covered parking with solar panels above?  Cars get unbearably hot sitting all day, and I would imagine there would be some serious energy recovery for a/c, carts charging, and other?

That system is sized to offset 95% of the electricity use of the golf course and restaurant according to the article. That's the same way residential solar installations are sized.

How much of the total usage is to be offset by the solar panels would be a function of the billing practices of the utilities in a particular area.

In NC, we have net metering, so it wouldn't matter what time of day power usage was higher; you get credit for any excess energy produced and charged for any excess used at any given moment.  BUT all credits "zero out" on May 1st so that the power companies are not generating peak demand energy and getting paid in accumulated credits by customers with solar panels.  Consequently, systems in NC and other net-metering states are typically sized to cover usage during the non-AC part of the year, which usually means more like 75% of total usage for the year.  More capacity than that would be wasted; the customer would be generating solar power at a level beyond their usage for much of the year, but wouldn't be able to use the credits during summertime peak usage.

So the panels on my roof generate essentially ALL of my usage from September to June, though somewhat unevenly due to changes in sunlight.  ALL of my excess usage beyond what my panels produce is from June thru August, but the good news is that those months are also when my system is producing the most, too.

Instructively, at least for me, my installer put an "e-gauge" on my system that gives me a real time readout of what my system is producing and what my house is using.  This was a revelation, and as a result, we've cut usage nearly 40%, and without much inconvenience at all.  I don't have much doubt that this could be widely done, though certainly tougher for a golf course or other business than for a residence.

[astavrides]

Here in Austin TX, William Morris is a local muni that has solar panels installed on the roof of the clubhouse, not sure what % of their energy needs it supplies but it's good to see.

I put solar panels on my house this past spring. Don is right in that you have to have an agreement with your local provider that allows them to buy your excess power back from you. ESPECIALLY here in Texas where electric bills are crazy high in the summer due to air conditioning in the Hades-like heat we have here, and next to nothing in the winter (at least for me, because I have gas heat). Otherwise you have to put in a battery system to store your excess power, which is an unwanted expense.

I generated a ton of power in August, but it was only 74% of my usage because of the summer heat. I'm about to wrap up producing 110% of my usage in October. Overall my system is expected to produce 94% of my usage based on my past bills, but that varies widely from month to month.

Austin does buy back my power, actually at a slightly higher rate than I get billed for the power I use. So if I produce exactly 100% of my usage in a month, I make a slight bit of money (though that's not really why I put in the system).

I've got about an 11-year payback period though that depends on future electric rates. I also could have looked into financing my panels a bit differently than I wound up doing, which was kind of a miss on my part. But overall I'm glad to have put in the panels. And given the size of some of the golf clubhouses and cart barns, they are prime candidates for solar panels, so it's good to see some courses putting them in.

Congratulations on your system and thanks for the info.
What happens to the extra 10% that you generated in October? Do you get paid for that? Can it carry over into another month?

[astavrides]

for those who have looked, I'm surprised courses here in southern Cal, especially desert, haven't converted some parking to covered parking with solar panels above?  Cars get unbearably hot sitting all day, and I would imagine there would be some serious energy recovery for a/c, carts charging, and other?

That system is sized to offset 95% of the electricity use of the golf course and restaurant according to the article. That's the same way residential solar installations are sized.

How much of the total usage is to be offset by the solar panels would be a function of the billing practices of the utilities in a particular area.

In NC, we have net metering, so it wouldn't matter what time of day power usage was higher; you get credit for any excess energy produced and charged for any excess used at any given moment.  BUT all credits "zero out" on May 1st so that the power companies are not generating peak demand energy and getting paid in accumulated credits by customers with solar panels.  Consequently, systems in NC and other net-metering states are typically sized to cover usage during the non-AC part of the year, which usually means more like 75% of total usage for the year.  More capacity than that would be wasted; the customer would be generating solar power at a level beyond their usage for much of the year, but wouldn't be able to use the credits during summertime peak usage.

So the panels on my roof generate essentially ALL of my usage from September to June, though somewhat unevenly due to changes in sunlight.  ALL of my excess usage beyond what my panels produce is from June thru August, but the good news is that those months are also when my system is producing the most, too.

Instructively, at least for me, my installer put an "e-gauge" on my system that gives me a real time readout of what my system is producing and what my house is using.  This was a revelation, and as a result, we've cut usage nearly 40%, and without much inconvenience at all.  I don't have much doubt that this could be widely done, though certainly tougher for a golf course or other business than for a residence.

Thanks for the info and clarification. I was familiar with the practice in Northern California, where I'm pretty sure they typically size at 95% of the yearly electricity needs. But that may vary from utility to utility or municipality to municipality.

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