Meeting the Port of Los Angeles’ Solar Power Goals

Abstract

The City of Los Angeles (City) Harbor Department (Harbor Department) is continuing its effort at reaching 10 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic (PV) solar power at the Port of Los Angeles (Port). After reaching 1.6 MW of PV solar power, a new opportunity became available that is expected to allow the Harbor Department to meet its 10 MW goal. This opportunity is in the form of the City utility’s feed-in tariff (FiT) program. This paper recaps how the Port reached 1.6 MW of installed PV solar power. It then discusses the process the Harbor Department has undertaken to participate in the FiT program. Some of the topics discussed include: technical considerations for site selection, PV solar power system (PV System) design, and meeting FiT program guidelines; the considerations that went into preparing and issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to select a solar power developer that will build the PV Systems; and independent projects by Port tenants under the same FiT program. A snapshot of the effort will be provided since the project is still under way. Using the City utility’s FiT program is expected to yield the Harbor Department’s goal of 10 MW of PV solar power within a few years and pave the path for Port tenants and others to follow.