Researchers and labs are constantly advancing medical science. The noble cause of helping others to heal and feel better has improved greatly over the past hundred years. One health care company with several Arkansas branches is helping in a different way, however, and it’s going to help the chain of hospitals become more sustainable and self-sufficient along the way.
Unity Health is partnering with Bernhard to update existing equipment and install an array of Earth Mount solar panels that will produce power for its rural hospitals and lead to greater sustainability.
Bernhard’s “Energy-as-a-Service” program will also allow them to sell their excess electricity to the grid for a profit.
“Our engineering folks recognized that a lot of our equipment was getting a little dated,” said Stuart Hill, vice president and treasurer at Unity Health. “They brought this project, energy as a service, as a way to upgrade equipment that needed upgrading. The economics of it just seemed to make sense to us.”
The partnership came about after a decade of working with Bernhard on other projects. Hill said the team has built a lot of trust through the expansions to the operations in Searcy.
The project will affect four hospitals in Unity Health System: Newport, Jacksonville and two locations in Searcy. The Newport branch will only receive LED upgrades because it already uses different energy components than the other three hospitals.
The first phase of the work is to make the hospitals as efficient as possible before worrying about energy production. Another objective is to provide full backup generation at one of the Searcy sites.
The best part about the project, according to Sam Selig, senior vice president of renewable energy at Bernhard, is that the solar panels will help offset a portion of the costs. The panels are expected to last 10-20 years, offering energy savings the entire time.
“Bernhard is upgrading onsite backup generators and critical systems to increase resiliency and improve energy efficiency,” said Selig. “The offsite solar project completes the trifecta by significantly reducing utility cost expense.”
The roughly 10,000 panels will be located on an off-site property purchased by the hospital system in Morrilton. The plot of land was chosen because it falls within the Entergy Arkansas territory, and due to the Inflation Reduction Act, there are additional bonuses for building it in an “energy community” designated by the act. Much of the parcel also lies in a floodplain and could not be developed for other uses.
Most of the annual production will take place in spring and summer, with December and January seeing the least amount of production. During those months, the company expects a capacity factor of greater than 28%, which slightly exceeds traditional solar installations, according to Selig.
The total cost of the project, which will take two and a half years to complete, is approximately $52 million. The group is targeting benefits of $63 million in energy savings across 20 years.
“We’re excited for the long run,” Hill said. “It is a challenge here at the beginning. But the long run is what we’re in for.”
Earth Mount arrays started gaining traction around 2019, according to Selig, who has been with the company since January 2022. He started working in the industry in 2019 when “all the rules changed in Arkansas.”
The Morrilton site north of I-40 will first be cleared and then grated so the entire patch is covered with dirt. The panels will then be installed, and the grass will be reseeded to completely surround the panels in the ground. Selig said it installs “like a carpet, like flooring almost.”
“During the planning process, a considerable amount of effort has gone into making the site as invisible as possible to all neighboring property owners,” Selig said.
He said the Earth Mount array will take up a third of the size of a traditional array. While this is the first such array to be installed in the state, Selig believes the trend will increase as it “makes too much sense.” According to him, Arkansas ranks in the top 15 for solar radiance on the ground’s surface, or the amount of solar energy that can be harnessed per acre of land.
“Earth Mount solar is the most efficient installation method both in terms of land use and cost,” said Selig. “Bernhard’s business is efficiency and conservation. If we can install the Earth Mount solar using 60% less land than traditional solar, then the decision really becomes a no-brainer. An added benefit is that the installation is much more aesthetically pleasing as well.”
Bernhard will maintain the array. Through an operation and maintenance contract, Bernhard guarantees the savings over the coming decades, ensuring it produces what it claimed it would. The company will use robots to clean the solar panels when they become dirty.
“The project has a 40-year design life, and the solar panels are warrantied for 30 years,” Selig said. “The inverters – the equipment that converts DC power to AC power – will need to be replaced in about 15 years. We are budgeting five cents per Watt for this replacement.”
Bernhard is currently in due diligence with over 250 hospitals and health systems nationwide. It recently closed on an agreement with Adventist Health to address aging infrastructure at 25 locations in California, Oregon and Hawaii.
The company looks to bring sustainability and energy independence to health care companies across the country, just as Unity Health is investing in. The guaranteed savings across the 20-year term of the project help to fund the necessary renovations today.
“Solar seemed like the right thing to do,” Hill said. “And to reduce the carbon footprint.”
Editor’s Note: All images are renderings of the solar array
READ ALSO: ROSS, SCHNOES JOIN LEADERSHIP TEAM AT FORGE INSTITUTE
This post was originally published on 3rd party site mentioned in the title of this site
