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By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer Updated 1:35 AM Monday, February 1, 2010

DAYTON — Dayton Power & Light hopes its first-ever solar power array, now under construction on seven acres at the utility’s Yankee substation, will show how efficient sun power can be in Southwestern Ohio.

That’s important because DP&L will use results from the 1.1-megawatt array — enough to power 150 homes — to decide whether it will increase solar power production to meet a state-mandate that it produce 0.5 percent of its electricity from solar by 2025.

It might be cheaper for the utility to purchase “renewable energy credits” on the open market that will finance solar installations elsewhere in the country — another option for meeting state mandates.

Answering the question could take more than a year’s analysis in a region notorious for fast-changing weather. Solar advocates say energy projects like this one can cut reliance on fossil fuels and develop new jobs.

In his State of the State address last week, Gov. Ted Strickland announced a plan to create by late March a $40 million Energy Gateway Fund — $30 million in federal stimulus funds and $10 million in state funds — that would supplement private investment in renewable energy equipment manufacturing.

DP&L’s 9,000-panel Yankee facility sits on a 50-acre property the company owns on Yankee Street in Washington Twp. The solar project will cost about $5 million and be functional by March, feeding power into the electric grid through the substation. The panels can stand up to adverse weather. A standard manufacturer’s test involves firing a one-inch ice ball toward the panels at 50 mph.

Sun power in use

DP&L’s Joe Jancauskas set up a three-panel installation at his urban Dayton home in a setting with “restricted solar access” to test solar energy’s potential. Updated facts and figures can be found at: www.4catstudio.com/solar/

You can find other local solar installations by following links for a search page for the Ohio Solar Tour at: www.greenenergy ohio.org/

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