The switch Solar panel permits are up in Houston; at the same time, the Texas power grid has seen a shift toward renewable energy. to solar
Shining on: Solar permits led in Houston
734
800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0
Houston permitting data compiled by Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research shows a spike at the end of 2021.
500
255
242
51
2017 2021 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2018 2019 2020
SOURCES: KINDER INSTITUTE FOR URBAN RESEARCH, CITY OF BELLAIRE, CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
In the last year, Bellaire and West University Place have issued 18 and 15 permits, respectively.
$2,000 a year in electricity should costs remain stagnant, EIA data shows. The rise in electricity bills can largely be attributed to an increase in the price of natural gas as well as higher demand in the summer, according to ERCOT. As the population of Texas increases, so too will the energy demand. The power demand reached record levels in June. On June 12, Texas energy consumption peaked, reach- ing approximately 75 gigawatts of electricity for the rst time, according to ERCOT. One gigawatt of energy is enough to power 850 homes in Texas a month; the previous record was set in 2019, when 74.8 gigawatts of electric- ity were recorded. To push more home installations, Texas o ers incentives, including tax exemptions and tax credits, said Mueller. While solar paneling raises appraisal values of homes, owners are not expected to pay increased taxes, he said. “So you gain the value in the appraisal, but you don’t gain it in the property taxes,” Mueller said. When installed alongside a genera- tor and/or a battery supply at home, solar energy reduces residents’ reli- ance on the grid, Mueller said. “Solar is like the di erence between renting your home or owning it,” he said. An increasingly popular solution to lowering the electric bill is rooftop solar paneling, Wolfe said. “What we’re seeing here in Houston is it gives you a 12- to 15-year return on your investment, depending on your situation,” she said. Despite the rise in production, solar energy accounted for roughly 5% of electricity generated in 2021, accord- ing to ERCOT. Between January and May of this year, the state’s power grid has become more diverse. Natural gas and coal, which previously accounted for more than half of Texas’ electricity generation, make up 47% of the grid.
Wind energy accounts for the largest share of Texas’ grid, contributing a third of all electricity generated in the state, according to ERCOT fuel reports. Solar e orts In May, solar energy power output produced 2,390 gigawatts per hour of energy, just under half of what coal generated that month in Texas. On April 22, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality granted per- mits for the largest urban solar farm in the county, located in Houston’s Sun- nyside community. The Sunnyside Solar Project will be built on 240 acres of a former land ll in Houston’s south side just east of Hwy. 288. The solar farm is expected to pro- duce enough energy to power around 5,000 homes, according to city of Houston o cials. The plant will be split into two sections: A 50-mega- watt array of solar panels will produce energy as part of the wider grid, while a smaller 2-megawatt array will sell elec- tricity exclusively to local residents. The Sunnyside Solar Project comes on the heels of Houston launching its rst solar co-op in 2021, Solar United Neighbors. The co-op is designed to make the conversion to solar more a ordable through bulk purchases, allowing homeowners and business owners in and around Houston to select a single solar company to com- plete the installations. As of Janu- ary, Houston’s solar co-op had 294 participants. “The co-op will enable homeowners and business owners in and around the city of Houston to join the growing community of people taking control of their energy bills and improving grid resilience by harnessing solar power,” said Hanna Mitchell, Texas program director for SUN, in a press release.
CONTINUED FROM 1
a 2021 energy transition report from the Greater Houston Partnership. “We need to invest in new sources of energy and decarbonization technologies that provide humans with clean, a ord- able and reliable energy to power our future.” Solar panel permits for single-fam- ily residential homes within Houston have surged over the past two years, according to an analysis of city data by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Permits were issued for 2,408 city addresses in 2021, up from 719 in 2019. The fourth quarter of 2021 saw the highest permit total for a single quarter so far at 734 permits issued. Solar panel installations are also up in smaller cities such as Bellaire and West University Place, according to Gage Mueller, a solar energy special- ist at the Houston-based ADT Solar. Between June 1, 2021-June 1, 2022 18 permits have been issued in Bellaire, and 15 have been issued in West Uni- versity Place. Texas’ power grid has repeatedly been put to the test over the last two years. Between February 2021’s winter storm, which brought on rolling black- outs, and the more recent strain of heat waves causing record-high power demand, new options for energy sources are in high demand, said Dori Wolfe, a coordinator with Solar United Neighborhoods, a nonpro t group that arranges group purchases of home The cost of electricity for residents has risen 10% in the last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Admin- istration. The average cost of electricity rose to 12.8 cents per kilowatt hour in March. The average home in Houston consumes 1,300 kilowatt hours per month, which would account for nearly solar installations. Rise in energy costs
Power shift: Energy source comparison More power-generating capacity in Texas has shifted toward renewable sources such as wind and solar power in the past year.
6
5 6
5
4
1
1
4
May 2022
May 2021
3
3
2
2
May 2022
May 2021
32.2% Natural gas 1
32.3%
32.6%
28.7%
Wind 2
13.4%
18.8%
Coal 3
8.5%
11.8%
Nuclear 4
6.3%
4.4%
Solar 5
6.9%
4.1%
Other/ storage
6
SOURCE: ELECTRIC RELIABILITY COUNCIL OF TEXAS COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Bene ts to installing solar panels Incentives: Financial incentives
in Texas include exempting 100% of any value increases caused by solar installation and federal tax credits of up to 26%. Reduced energy bill: Speci c savings vary based on how extensive the solar setup is. Grid protection: If a battery or a generator is installed, solar power can help homeowners maintain power during power outages. Reduced carbon footprint: Solar energy’s carbon footprint is
roughly 20 times less than coal sources and 13 times less than natural gas sources. SOURCES: SHELL ENERGY, TEXAS COMPTROLLER COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
19
BELLAIRE MEYERLAND WEST UNIVERSITY EDITION • JULY 2022
Powered by FlippingBook