LOW OUTPUT CLOUDS SOLAR POWER IN L.A.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

Several of the Department of Water and Power's large-scale solar-energy projects appear to be generating less than half of the promised electricity, and experts are investigating whether the shortfall is a fluke or reflects a broader problem with more than 500 solar installations citywide.

A review of six major solar installations showed that the DWP got an average of only 45 percent of the expected wattage. Two photovoltaic panels at the Los Angeles Convention Center generated less than 40 percent of design capacity - just 29 percent from one and 37 percent from the other.

``The losses are extremely high with what we're picking up with these six installations,'' said Henry Martinez, DWP assistant general manager for power generation. ``Somewhere along the line, we would have expected the energy we generate from these systems would be a lot more than what we're getting.''

The city's chief legislative analyst highlighted the potential solar-energy shortfall in a report on the DWP's ``green'' power program and said costs per kilowatt hour on the sampled solar installations were roughly twice the market average of 40 cents.

That could be bad news for environmentalists and other solar-energy proponents, who have pushed for Los Angeles to make a greater investment in sun power.

``This really is the perfect place. There's so many people here and there's so many rooftops,'' said Graham Owen, owner of Go Solar, a solar installation company in North Hollywood.

Owen also said systems usually don't deliver the wattage indicated on the photovoltaic panels. The design output is based on optimal laboratory conditions, not the outside world in which shade, excessive heat and location details can knock up to 25 percent off the promised power delivery.

``We're really learning to be honest with what we're selling,'' Owens said.

Manufacturers told officials at California State University, Northridge, that even though the photovoltaic panels used to shade the parking lot were laboratory rated for 225 kilowatts, they would deliver 190 to 200 kilowatts, said Tom Brown, who handles infrastructure at the campus.

The panels were generating 82 kilowatts on a mildly sunny morning last week, but have ramped up to 189 kilowatts on a bright summer morning, Brown said.

``They really are performing very close to the manufacturer's label.''

Solar energy now only provides about 2 percent of the university's energy needs, and campus officials say it's a worthwhile investment.

``It's good for the environment, it's good for the economy, and quite frankly it's good for academics,'' said Brown, noting that university students helped design the system.

It is expensive, however. CSUN got incentive funding from the federal government and the DWP, and it still will take about 10 years for the project to pay off on the university's costs. Without incentive funding, such a project would take 25 to 30 years to pay off, Brown said.

The DWP temporarily froze its incentive plan in June because demand outpaced the funding available. The department has since increased funding to $150 million through 2011.

The utility has $11 million in confirmed funding to pay off this year and $109 million worth of requests on the waiting list, said Lillian Kawasaki, DWP assistant general manager. The DWP is restructuring the solar program to deal with customer demand and could reduce the incentive grants that are offered. Customers now get $4.50 for every watt of solar energy generated by panels built outside the city but installed here. The funding now is $6 per watt if the solar panels were built in Los Angeles.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com