Case Study: 7200 S. Kimbark September 2017 Cook County Community Solar Project

The 7200 S. Kimbark building is home to the Theaster Gates Studios,

formerly known as the Black Cinema House. This property has a new, flat

24,000 square foot roof. Initial LiDAR assessments suggested as much as

150 kW of potential solar. However, after the structural assessment and

more exact solar design, the maximum solar capacity on this roof is only 45

kW. This is after introducing awning mounts on the southern side of the

property into the design, without which only 36 kW could be installed. The

primary obstacle to additional capacity was the many smaller vent and

HVAC obstructions, which make contiguous panel placement mostly

impossible. For these reasons, the project team recommends a behind the

meter, distributed generation system.

INSTALLATION

Rooftop & Awning

The proposed system design includes both ballasted rooftop panels, as well as a smaller portion of awning-mounted panels. The panel placement is difficult, with many obstructions.

SYSTEM

45 kW 139 Panels

The proposed system includes a 30 kW ballasted rooftop system of about 95 panels, as well as a 15 kW awning-mounted system of about 45 panels. The full system will generate nearly 54 MWhs per year

OWNERSHIP

Developer-Owned PPA

The proposed system would be built and maintained by a solar developer. The Power Purchase Agreement modeled would allow power to be sold to the site owner at a reduced rate, with the system owner retaining the SRECs and tax incentives.

CONTRACT

PPA

The Power Purchase Agreement modelled would provide a savings of 20% off the current rate of electricity for the host site. This would amount to a first year energy savings of $579 and an average annual savings of $1.718.

HOST SITE

STRUCTURE

To see the detailed report, financial

models and all supporting case

study material, visit the Cook

County Community Solar Project:

Case Study Home Page

Private Multi-Unit

To access the modelling tool used

for these case studies, download

the Community Solar Business Case

tool here:

Business Case Tool

The 7200 S. Kimbark building is a multi-purpose building on Chicago’s south side that is home to the Theaster Gates studios. This 2-story property has a new 24,000 square foot roof, with many small obstructions.

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Rooftop Distributed Generation 7200 S. Kimbark

Cook County Community Solar

Project

Case Study: 7200 S. Kimbark September 2017 Cook County Community Solar Project

System Design

The proposed system has been designed to maximize

the panel placement on this 24,000 square foot flat

roof. While the roof is new and has a large area, the

many obstructions from vents and HVAC equipment

make contiguous panel placement nearly impossible.

The result is a 45 kW system, which includes about 15

kW of awning-mounted panels on the southern side of

the property. In total there are 139 roof and awning

mounted panels proposed for the site.

Business Model

The project team has recommended a distributed

generation Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) model.

Because of the size of the system, community solar

becomes less affordable, with the likely number of

subscribers being just a few. With a PPA model, the host

site would have no upfront costs and can save an

average of $1,718 annually over the life of the system.

The solar developer would build and maintain the

system. With this model they would receive SRECs and

tax incentives, yielding an IRR of more than 12.8%.

Distributed Generation

Distributed generation refers to power generation at

the point of consumption. Generating power on-site,

rather than centrally, eliminates the cost, complexity,

interdependencies, and inefficiencies associated with

transmission and distribution. This power is connected

behind the customers meter and is used to offset their

energy use, with excess energy feed back to the grid

and “turning back” the customer’s meter.

System Owner Metrics: For 45 kW PPA 25-Year Costs……………………………….………….. ($106,940)

25-Year Revenues…………………………………… $157,864, 25-Year Net Benefits………………………….……. $50,924 Internal Rate of Return………………………..… 12.8% Return On Investment (ROI)………………….. 48% SREC Value……………………………………….…….. $40.00/MWh*

SREC Adder Value…………………………………………………. $0

*All SREC and SREC Adder values are assumptions. See Overview for more details.

Host Site PPA Metrics: For 45 kW Distributed Generation

25-Year Costs……………………………….………….. ($73,938) 25-Year Revenues…………………………………… $116,892 25-Year Net Benefits………………………….……. $42,953 25-Year Net Present Value (NPV)……….…... $8,419 Payback Period…………………………………….…. 0 years First year savings…………………………………….. $579 Average Annual Savings over 25 years…… $1,718