Cattle Rancher Goes Solar

Member Name: Bill Purcell

Project Title: Residential Ground Mount System

City & State: Danville, CA

Rated DC Output: 21.8 kW

Rated AC Output: 18.4 kW

Modules: 128 ET Solar ET-M572170’s (170 Watts each)

Inverters: 1 SMA SB6000US (6,000 Watts) & 1 SMA SB7000US (7,000 Watts)

Monitoring: SMA web box

Total installed cost: $130,000

CSI Rebate: $27,800

Tax Credit: $38,500

Net Cost: $63,700

Net Cost per Watt: $3.46 AC, $2.92 DC

Date of Installation: August, 2009

Designer: Dick Hansen

Installer: Pacific Solar Energy

To help offset the electrical load of this member’s small cattle ranch, a solar array was installed on a southwest facing hill, surrounded by barbed-wire to keep the cows out.

The customer owns a large tract of land and had a sizable electric bill which he wanted to reduce to near-zero at the lowest possible cost.  The only option was a ground array.  A suitable southwest facing, un-shaded site with a 15 degree slope was available, but unfortunately the site was about 900 feet from the main house and electric interconnection point.  This long distance required digging a trench 18” deep, laying 3” conduit, pulling in the conductors, and installing a water line to facilitate panel cleaning.   At the system site, two arrays were constructed with disconnect switches located beneath the panels, all enclosed by a barbed-wire cattle fence.  The three inverters and web box monitoring system are located in an out-building mid-way between the array and main house, which saved some money on cable costs.