KPLU Local News
(2009-08-20)
Listen Now:
null
Rendering of proposed solar farm near Cle Elum, WA
Photo courtesy of Teanaway Solar Reserve
For more information:
Teanaway Solar Reserve LLC
Full story
Investment manager Howard Trott says he wanted to stick close to his Seattle-area home when he went looking for a site for a gigantic solar farm. He found what he wanted less than two hours' drive east, just across the Cascade Crest.
Howard Trott: "It's one of those things, you walked around and said, Well, I don't see neighbors. I see south-facing. I see it's open.'"
A partnership Trott leads will lease several partially logged hillsides from a private timber company.
Howard Trott: "It's just like, yeah, this makes sense. I think that is the general feeling we get when we bring people here."
On Tuesday, Teanaway Solar Reserve LLC submitted a fat permit application to Kittitas County to plunk down 145 acres worth of solar panels among the stumps.
Out of Trott's sight, behind a low ridge lies the little town of Cle Elum. Its mayor, Charles Glondo, says he hasn't heard one negative comment about the proposed solar project.
Charles Glondo: "The mine shutdown, M.C. Miller closed down, the logging closed down. There's no industry. Our biggest export here is our children. So what I'm trying to tell you is this is just great. I'm beside myself."
Glondo and about 50 other central Washington residents gathered in a city park for the first public presentation by the developer. There was none of the contentiousness that wind farms proposed nearby have generated. The owner of a day spa, Wendy Smith, likes solar in her backyard.
Wendy Smith: "It will definitely bring an influx of much needed people and money. It's something that'll stay and hopefully become bigger, and bigger, and bigger."
At the presentation, no one asked if the Northwest is sunny enough for solar power. The answer is self-evident to these sun-tanned locals. But the east slopes of the Cascades do get snow five months out of the year. Teanaway Solar managing partner Howard Trott explains his engineers are looking at bolting their solar panels to tiltable mounts.
Howard Trott: "We could maybe stow these things in more of a vertical nature to keep the snow off of them at night. During the day, they absorb enough heat in generating power that the snow isn't an issue. But at night, we're worried about it. So we're talking to a lot of the manufacturers of tilting and tracking mechanisms."
Trott says the sprawling solar farm could come online in stages starting as early as 2011. The project is billed as producing enough electricity to light 45-thousand homes. I'm Tom Banse in Cle Elum, Washington. © Copyright 2012, N3
