It takes a lot of water to irrigate Tucson’s desert golf courses, and the southern Arizona city has found a “green” way of doing it by recycling wastewater and pumping it to fairways using solar energy. One of the partners in this effort, Trico Electric Cooperative in nearby Marana, recently provided $175,000 toward additional solar equipment. The money stemmed from a rebate associated with the co-op’s SunWatts renewable energy program.

Arizona encourages solar and wind power development by requiring electric utilities to collect 35 cents per month per meter from residential and small business consumers and $13 per month per meter from large commercial consumers that can be returned as rebates when projects are built, explains Romi Carrell Wittman, Trico Electric communications services director. That figure will soon increase to $1.05 per residential meter.

The co-op’s contribution to the city’s Thornydale Reclaimed Water Reservoir helped pay for 108 solar panels that were added to 144 already installed on the roof of the pumping station. Combined, the panels generate 75 kW of clean energy. Trico Electric, the City of Tucson, and Tucson Water hope to add another 180 panels and more than 40 kW down the road.

“Our goal is to cover the entire top of the facility—basically a concrete roof—with solar panels,” comments Wittman.

When the pumps are not running, power generated feeds into the co-op’s distribution grid. Trico Electric maintains and monitors the panels, inverters, and related hardware for the partnership.

“We are proud to be a part of the growing solar movement,” stresses Trico Electric CEO & General Manager Mark Schwirtz. “Renewable energy should play an important role as part of a diversified generation mix.”

This article is reprinted with permission from RE Magazine (December 2007).