Some more electric news

Chamber luncheon and tour of Solar Park II

On Wednesday the Rensselaer Chamber of Commerce had a luncheon at Rensselaer's solar park #2 with a presentation by officials from IMPA and a tour of the solar field. IMPA is the Indiana Municipal Power Agency. It was formed in 1983 with 26 member communities and Rensselaer was one of those founding communities. It currently serves 51 cities and towns in Indiana and Ohio. Rensselaer buys all of its electricity from IMPA.

Solar Park II is west of the primary school on Matteson. It has the capacity to generate 3.8 megawatts of electricity. The panels in the smaller Solar Park I are fixed in place. Those in Solar Park II are single axis trackers; they move to follow the sun. Many other IMPA communities have solar parks; IMPA is approaching 200 megawatts of solar capacity on 1100 acres. It likes locating within city or town limits so its property taxes are paid to a member community.  Some asked about residental solar panels and the answer was that only three people have rooftop solar panels connected to the grid. There are only about 100 in the entire IMPA network.

Below is a picture of the group in the solar park, with an official from IMPA explaining an inverter, which takes the DC output from the panels and converts it to AC current.

Not visible in the picture, there was a row of panels on the south end of the park that were damaged in Saturday's storm. The storm also did some damage to panels at Solar Park I.

IMPA uses drones with infrared cameras to search for malfunctions in the park. It is cheaper and much quicker than the previous ways of trying to find problems.

Below is a picture of one of the motors that turn the panels. Because it was midday and the sun was almost directly overhead, the panels were almost parallel to the ground. Some asked why they did not plant the park with plants for pollinator insects. The answer was that many people considered pollinator fields to be fields of weeds and IMPA wanted to be seen as a good neighbor.

Since the installation of this park, solar panels have gotten more efficient. The panels in our parks can only generate electricity from one side. Now most panels have a transparent back so that if there is reflected light from snow or sand on the ground, that light can also generate electricity.

The ribbon cutting for this park took place in October, 2018.

The big chimney leaves

On Wednesday I noticed a truck that parked near the power plant. The driver got out, pressed some buttons on the trailer, and the back of the trailer slid back, extending the length of the trailer. I knew something was about to happen, so I waited. 

It took a while as the workers prepared to move the chimney. They had to get straps around it, which they were able to do because it was resting on boards to give it some clearance from the ground., Eventually I caught the video below.

The workers settled the chimney on the trailer, but it was not quite right, so they lifted it again and resettled it. Below is the final result.

The driver then tied down the load and I assume he drove off after I left.

As I left, another truck was getting into position to receive another part of the exhaust assembly. It and the other part were gone Thursday morning. There was still one bit of the assembly left on Thursday, but it must not have been important because it was still on the lot Thursday evening and the Barnhart people seem to have left Rensselaer.

Rensselaer BZA meeting

The Rensselaer BZA met on Thursday evening with two main items on the agenda. The first was a variance of use application to allow the construction of an office and shop in an A-1 zone. The property is a six-acre lot south of Rensselaer in the buffer zone and is currently being used for construction storage. The business that wants to move to and purchase this lot fabricates and installs quartz, marble, and granite countertops in DeMotte. They plan to erect a 4500 square foot shop for the fabrication. A neighbor had concerns about materials blowing into her fields, something that happens with the current use. The applicant was agreeable to installing a fence. The application was approved.

The second item was a conditional use application for a park in a B-3 (business) zone. The park is Filson Park, land that the City Council accepted from the Filson family with the condition that it remain a park for at least 15 years. The discussion seemed to focus on the plans for developing the park, which is being funded by the Filson family. When the City Council made the decision to accept the land, the argument against accepting the land was that the land would be better used for retail or commercial uses. That argument resurfaced again at this meeting. Other concerns were vandalism and maintenance costs. Several people voiced support for continuing development, arguing that the City should respect the wishes of the donors, that it would promote tourism as an extension of the RENARTWLK, and that community members wanted more and better parks. The vote was unanimous to approve the conditional use application.

Looking back on the issue, the whole thing seems rather strange. If the Board had voted against the conditional use, would that have invalidated the action of the City Council in accepting the land with the conditions that were attached to it? Would the land have reverted back to the Filsons? The applicant listed was the Park Board, but should not the applicant have been the City Council? Can the BZA, a board appointed by the City Council and Mayor, override the decisions of the City Council?

Notes

Signs are up at the former Walgreens store announcing that it will soon be a Dollar Tree store.

On the way to the BZA meeting, I noticed something new in the alley behind Fenwicks. It is one of the panels painted at the Art Battle at the Art in the Alley event on July 29. Three other panels are on the wall of Fenwicks under the roof of the outdoor seating area.

The bollards promised for the north end of this alley are now installed.

There is a new art exhibit in the Fendig Gallery, works of Lillian Fendig. It is an impressive exhibit and I will try to write about it next week. The reception for the exhibit is Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00.

The Rensselaer Republican is reporting that the Pleasant Ridge grain elevator will close in October.

Finally, there is a pretty display of flowers blooming outside of the Rensselaer Library.