Rice moves to seven percent solar energy

By Sana Yaklur     2/18/15 4:11pm

Rice University has taken early steps toward  green power and sustainability by signing a one-year contract with MP2 Energy, a renewable energy company. This agreement signifies that an average of seven percent of Rice’s power supply will come from solar energy, according to Richard Johnson, director of Rice’s Administrative Center for Sustainability and Energy Management.

“During the afternoon, as much as 25 percent of Rice’s energy will come from [off-site] solar energy, since the amount of solar power we get naturally varies over the course of the day,” Johnson said.

Rice had been interested in using solar energy for a while, but there were concerns regarding any extra cost the move might entail, according to Mark Gardner, manager of Energy Strategy and Utility Program Development. According to Johnson, Rice continually indicated its interest in renewable energy sources to MP2 to demonstrate it as a topic about which they remained interested.

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“We kept signalling our interest, and it didn’t take long for them to catch on that it was something we really wanted,” Johnson said. “They wanted this to happen as much as we did. They’re a really innovative group and they want to be able to demonstrate ways that people can procure green without paying extra.”

Rice was able to formulate a plan with MP2 Energy to minimize cost. As a part of this plan, instead of paying one flat rate over the course of the day, Rice pays in hourly increments, with prices varying with the demand for electricity over the course of the day. According to Johnson, with this method of paying for electricity, Rice would pay more for electricity in the afternoon, when the most electricity is used on campus, and less for electricity at night, when less electricity is used and produced via the solar panels.

According to Gardner, another benefit to this incremental method of payment involves the solar panels installed on the roof of Jones College. When the prices for solar electricity peak, the panels at Jones produce the most energy. Gardner said because of these sets of solar panels, Rice does not need to purchase as much solar energy from MP2 Energy when prices are the highest.

“Because of the shaped curve method [in which the per hour price of electricity varies over the course of the day] of paying for electricity, there is no change in the cost of electricity for Rice,” Gardner said.

According to Johnson, this is the first time a commercial entity in Texas has made a deal with an electricity company to use off-site solar power.

Johnson said Rice has been looking into incorporating other renewable sources of power as well in order to increase environmental friendliness.

“Before we made the agreement with MP2 Energy, we looked into using landfill gas, as well as wind power and other solar power opportunities,” Johnson said. “We’re still looking into using wind power, and we’re looking into opportunities to increase the photovoltaic cells on campus. Our big strategies are [to] use less energy and buy green when it doesn’t cost us more.”

Johnson credits Gardner and Energy Manager Eric Valentine with being the most dedicated to finding cost-effective ways for Rice to use green energy.

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