Clyde goes solar

CLYDE — These days sun makes Clyde City Manager Paul Fiser happy, most days he is happy.Clyde's 20-acre solar field sits behind the waste water refinement plant on U.S. 20. It was built by AEP Onsite Energy Partners and started commercial operation June 1."We got it up and running at a perfect time," Fiser said.The field has 11,800 solar celled panels that produces 3.6 megawatts, providing 5.5 million kilowatt hours in a year to Clyde Light & Power, which supplies 2,700 homes and businesses.The average home used 8,400 kilowatt hours a year, Fiser said.Those panels track the sun, one of the few solar fields in Ohio that does, providing optimal solar exposure, Fiser said.The city has no money invested in the solar field. AEP paid for the field and is charging Clyde Light & Power for the electricity. But the city is still saving money.The 3.6 megawatts result in a saving to the city of $200,000 in reduced transmission fees from other energy supplies.AEP leases from the city the land the solar field sits on, netting the city $600,000 during the 20-year lease agreement.The city started discussions of installing a solar field in 2011, at first discussing using a private contractor until incentives to promote renewable energy were pulled. In the years of talks and planning, solar technology improved and became cheaper."The cost of building a solar field is dropping weekly," Fiser said.Fiser loves saving money and he loves the partnership with AEP.But he also loves the positive environmental impact."Cutting independence on fossil fuels — what is not good about green energy?" Fiser said.Clyde, in a partnership with AEP, started operation of 20 acre solar field June 1.