Clean Energy Extension

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1 Clean Energy Extension ag.umass.edu/energy The Clean Energy Extension is an Affiliate of the UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment 209 Agricultural Engineering Building University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA p: To: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Develop Springfield From: UMass Clean Energy Extension Date: December 14, 2017 Re: Preliminary Analysis: Building Energy Loads and Solar PV Opportunity at the Proposed Mason Square Grocery Store In August of 2017, staff from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) and Develop Springfield requested assistance from UMass Clean Energy Extension (CEE) in estimating (1) projected building electric and heating/cooling loads, and (2) the potential for solar PV generation at the proposed Mason Square Grocery Store in Springfield, MA. The planned store is expected to have an area of approximately 40,000 square feet and a parking lot area of approximately 2 acres. Results from this initial analysis are presented below. 1. Building Energy Loads According to a report published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory titled U.S. Department of Energy Commercial Reference Building Models of the National Building Stock, there are 16 building types that represent approximately 70% of the commercial buildings in the U.S. Models were created based on this report for each of the 16 building types. The purpose of these models is to represent new and existing buildings. These reference building models are not intended to represent energy use in any particular building. Rather, they are hypothetical models with ideal operations that meet certain minimum requirements. Thermal and electric loads for the Mason Square Grocery Store were developed based on methodologies presented in the aforementioned report, utilizing a model for a Supermarket. Site information such as building type, geographic location and square footage were used to customize a building model to best represent the proposed facility. Table 1 and Figures 1 5 below summarize the results of the analysis. Note: As these building loads are based on hypothetical models with ideal operations they are only meant to serve as a basis for energy consumption for a building with a particular use case. As occupancy, building systems and use case may differ, the provided loads may also differ. UMass Clean Energy Extension Preliminary Energy Analysis Proposed Mason Square Grocery Store

2 Table 1: Total electric usage and heating load Month Electric Consumption (kwh) Heating Load (MMBtu) Jan. 110, Feb. 99, March 112, April 115, May 125, June 137, July 153, Aug. 148, Sept. 132, Oct. 119, Nov. 112, Dec. 109, Total 1,476,563 2,430 24x365 Total Electric Load MW date Jan 1 Feb 4 Mar 4 Apr 5 May 5 Jun 6 Jul 6 Aug 6 Sep 7 Oct 7 Nov 8 Dec 1:00 AM 2:00 AM 3:00 AM 4:00 AM 5:00 AM 6:00 AM 7:00 AM 8:00 AM 9:00 AM 10:00 AM 11:00 AM 12:00 PM 1:00 PM 2:00 PM 3:00 PM 4:00 PM 5:00 PM 6:00 PM 7:00 PM 8:00 PM 9:00 PM 10:00 PM 11:00 PM 12:00 AM Figure 1: Total electric load UMass Clean Energy Extension Preliminary Energy Analysis Proposed Mason Square Grocery Store 2

3 24x365 Heating Load 2.5E E+00 MMBtu 1.5E E E E+00 1 Jan 15 Jan 29 Jan 12 Feb 26 Feb 11 Mar 25 Mar 8 Apr 22 Apr 6 May 20 May 3 Jun 17 Jun 1 Jul 15 Jul 29 Jul 12 Aug 26 Aug 9 Sep 23 Sep 7 Oct 21 Oct 4 Nov 18 Nov 2 Dec 16 Dec 1:00 AM 3:00 AM 5:00 AM 7:00 AM 9:00 AM 11:00 AM 1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 2.0E E E E E E E E E E 01 Date Figure 2: Heating load 24x365 Electric Load Minus Cooling MWH Jan 13 Jan 25 Jan 6 Feb 18 Feb 1 Mar 13 Mar 25 Mar 6 Apr 18 Apr 30 Apr 12 May 24 May 5 Jun 17 Jun 29 Jun 11 Jul 23 Jul 4 Aug 16 Aug 28 Aug 9 Sep 21 Sep 3 Oct 15 Oct 27 Oct 8 Nov 20 Nov 2 Dec 14 Dec 26 Dec 1:00 AM 5:00 AM 9:00 AM 1:00 PM 9:00 PM 5:00 PM Date Figure 3: Electric load minus cooling UMass Clean Energy Extension Preliminary Energy Analysis Proposed Mason Square Grocery Store 3

4 24x365 Electric Cooling Load MWh Jan 21 Jan 10 Feb 1 Mar 21 Mar 10 Apr 30 Apr 20 May 9 Jun 29 Jun 19 Jul 8 Aug 28 Aug 17 Sep 7 Oct 27 Oct 16 Nov 6 Dec 26 Dec Date Figure 4: Electric cooling load Electric Demnad (kw) Hours Figure 5: Hourly electric load for January UMass Clean Energy Extension Preliminary Energy Analysis Proposed Mason Square Grocery Store 4

5 2. Solar PV System CEE s initial estimates indicate that the Mason Square building site could accommodate an estimated 1 MW scale solar PV system, depending on store rooftop design, parking lot configuration, and system design. A system of this scale could potentially be arranged as follows: 500 kw PV system array located on the rooftop of the 40,000 ft 2 facility; and 500 kw PV system parking canopy array located on approximately 2 acres of parking lot area. Comparable store rooftop and parking canopy systems are illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 below. Figure 6: 363 kw rooftop system located on a Big Y grocery store in Lee, MA Figure 7: 1,927 kw parking canopy system located on 4.6 acres of parking lot space at UMass Amherst UMass Clean Energy Extension Preliminary Energy Analysis Proposed Mason Square Grocery Store 5

6 System modeling using National Renewable Energy Laboratory s PVWatts Calculator ( indicates that a 1 MW solar PV system at Springfield s latitude would generate approximately 1,171,791 kwh per year. This is approximately 80% of the estimated annual store electric load of 1,476,563 kwh, as described in Section 1 above. Figure 8 below illustrates the typical monthly electric production from a PV system of this size. Figure 8: Typical monthly electric production from a 1 MW solar PV system in Springfield, MA Installed costs for in solar in Massachusetts currently range from approximately $2.50 to $4.00/Watt, depending on system design and configuration. Parking canopy systems, for example, typically have higher installation costs than rooftop systems due to the additional infrastructure needed to support the panels. For a 1 MW system, installed costs will likely range from $2.5 $4 million prior to any incentives. When federal and state incentives are considered, installed costs can be significantly reduced. Additional information relating to incentives for solar PV photovoltaic systems can be found on the MassCEC website, incentives and programs In addition, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources is launching its new Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program ( utilities clean tech/renewableenergy/rps aps/development of the next solar incentive.html) in 2018 to continue to advance the solar PV market in Massachusetts. This program will likely be an important incentive to consider for a solar PV system at Mason Square. UMass Clean Energy Extension Preliminary Energy Analysis Proposed Mason Square Grocery Store 6

7 In addition to incentives, there are several options for financing commercial solar PV installations, including direct purchase, loans, power purchase agreements, and solar leasing. Additional information relating to incentives for solar PV systems can be found on the MassCEC website, financing options. Solar PV installers experienced with commercial installations should be contacted for more detailed information regarding system design, pricing, and financing options. 3. Next Steps CEE is grateful for the opportunity to assist PVPC and Develop Springfield as they consider the development of the Mason Square grocery store as a critical community resource. As a next step, CEE would be glad to further discuss the findings in this memo and other clean energy strategies of interest and work with PVPC and its partners to develop a path forward for this important project. Please do not hesitate to contact us to schedule a follow up meeting or with any questions or comments regarding this analysis ( , energyextension@umass.edu). UMass Clean Energy Extension Preliminary Energy Analysis Proposed Mason Square Grocery Store 7