La Feria utility plants harness solar energy

LA FERIA – Work is nearing completion on adding solar panels to the water and sewage treatment plants.

At the sewage treatment plant on South Rabb Rd., there are 1,148 solar panels that produce 230 watts each, for a total of about 296 kilowatts, according to Alex Petrovich of Meridian Solar.

A total of 1,120 panels at the water treatment plant on Dodd Ln. will produce about 288 kilowatts.

The city is expecting to save about $140,000 each year in electricity costs for its utility plants. Each plant has the capacity of producing 380 kilowatt-hours of electricity, according to Sunny Philip, the city manager.

The water treatment plant’s solar array will produce a surplus of power during the day but the solar array at the sewage treatment plant will produce just enough to power the plant on a sunny day.

Funding for the solar systems came from federal stimulus funds. Each solar system cost about $900,000, or a total of $1.8 million for the whole project.