Solar on the Rise: Tapping energy from the Midnight Sun.

• Author: Kay, Alexandra

Solar energy is sizzling. Almost 2,000 customers of the four Railbelt electric utilities have tied solar installations to the grid, according to the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at UAF. Last year, 60 commercial customers of Chugach Electric Association and nearly 600 residential customers added photovoltaic (PV) installations.

"Solar PV is quickly becoming one of the lowest-cost options for energy or electricity generation in the world, and the same reflects in Alaska," says Edwin Bifelt, founder and CEO of Alaska Native Renewable Industries, which has completed several large installations. "The projects that we're doing show that solar is very doable from a conception standpoint. You don't need a lot of heavy equipment assets involved. The biggest challenge for us is the foundation. After that it's mostly just our labor crews involved."

Alaska has been late to the party as far as installation cost is concerned, says Curtis W. Thayer, executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority IAEA), but that's changing thanks to generous federal credits. The value proposition of solar energy pencils out favorably for more utility customers and for power producers, too.

"Many of the utilities are currently talking to solar developers about potentially building large multi-megawatt arrays in their service areas," says research engineer Chris Pike, solar technology program lead for the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. "Chugach Electric has selected at least one for further review, and they're doing studies for that array. The location and size are not public. The interesting thing is you're starting to see a lot more private investment."

New technology has helped raise the efficiency of PV projects, such as scaled-up manufacturing of bifacial solar cells in the last decade. Within the next few years, bifacial panels are forecast to eclipse the market share of older monofacial panels. Bifacial cells have the advantage of generating energy from light reflected onto the shady side of panels.

"They offer the option to orient the panel vertically, so the panel can generate more in the morning and evening," Pike says of bifacial panels, adding that Alaska's long spring and summer days, with extra hours of low-angle sunlight, are well suited to vertical panels.

And interest in solar energy is rising as Alaskans seek alternatives to fossil fuels, whether to curb carbon dioxide emissions or to conserve nonrenewable resources. "There are also...