DOUGLAS — It was a day of finding out about solar energy — how it works, how to help pay for it and how to get paid for it. It was all one wanted to know about solar power and much more.

Dale Cureton of D & M Well Services, Douglas, displays one of his company’s solar-powered water pumps at the Solar Forum held at the Douglas Campus of Cochise College on Saturday. The pumps help ranchers keep stock watered with the power of the sun in remote locations. (Shar Porier•Wick News Service)

To bring that information to the general public, Southeast Arizona Economic Development Group, Cochise County and Cochise College sponsored an all-day forum at the Douglas campus with some of Arizona’s legislators and industry leaders in the field of solar energy.

By investing not only in solar-related industries and power plants, but in solar technology training as well, the state will open up the market for the renewable energy source.

At a solar forum held at the Douglas Campus of Cochise College, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said on a videotape that there is a national need to address solar power and that Arizona with its 300-plus days a year of sunshine should be leading the country in supply power via the sun for a variety of reasons.

“We need to invest our energy dollars in our own country to cut the dependence on foreign oil … and stop global warming,” she said.

She compared the need for advances in technology in renewable energy sources to that of the space race fifty years ago. There are challenges — the need for technology workers and engineers, rebuilding a grid that can handle the added input and more solar incentives for commercial and residential uses.

Her opponent in the congressional contest, State Sen. Tim Bee attended the forum and noted in his presentation that “all of us are experiencing impacts due to rising costs of food and fuel.” But while there are tax incentives from the state for solar companies, the legislature has stepped up tax incentives for solar installation of commercial companies to the tune of $25,000.

Over the next five years, $135 million will be pumped into the University of Arizona for education, research and development in solar technologies, he added. This will include facilities and housing for program focusing on solar research.

For now, the state push will be on commercial options, not residential, but there are tax credits for homeowners who install solar or wind power generating equipment on rooftops, on ranches and on farms. Property tax on commercial solar facilities and industry could drop 80 percent if a proposed bill passes into legislation.

Outgoing Arizona Corporation Commission member Bill Mundell told the 150 people in attendance that it takes more power today to provide electricity to homes than it once did. At one time, 1 megawatt of power could provide for 1,000 homes; now that figure is one megawatt per 200 to 250 homes. That’s due to all the electrical devices we now use in daily life, including the phantom load from all those alarm clocks, chargers left plugged in while not in use and the instant-on features of today’s electronics.

With fuel prices rising for oil and natural gas, going solar won’t cost as much as it did even 10 years ago, Mundell pointed out. Prices for solar systems have continued to decrease as advances in solar technology finally meet in the market place.

So how does solar work? That depends on the method used. In photovoltaic cells, the photons from sunlight strike the special semi-conductor film where electrons are cleaved and shuttled into a line. The process creates direct current which must be switched to an alternating current by passing it through an inverter. The alternating current goes into the wiring box that powers the home or business.

But before one goes head-over-heels for solar at a residence, there are some things to consider. First, the load of the home has to be determined — how many watts are needed to run all those appliances. Then there’s the roof structure — can it accommodate the weight. Even the soil composition if it’s ground-based is important. And there’s more, much more. Photovoltaics require battery storage dependent on the amount of power that’s produced.

In parabolic troughs, sunlight is reflected onto fluid-filled lines that trap heat. That 745-degree fluid is used to power steam turbines.

This system is planned for the proposed 280 megawatt Solana power generating plant southwest of Phoenix, explained Toni Bouchard, of Arizona Public Service (APS). That $70 million project to power 70,000 homes will use 2,700 parabolic troughs and will cover three square miles near Gila Bend.

The whole project hinges on the passage of a federal tax credit for solar power, Bouchard said.

“If the tax credit does not pass the senate, Solana will not happen,” added Bouchard.

While there may be a way to recoup some of the up-front expenses of installing a solar system, unless you are connected to the grid within an electric company’s service area, don’t expect any cash flowing your way. And then there’s the matter of the transmission lines that may or may not be able to handle the additional capacity. That’s a problem in Arizona, since some of the best sites are in rural, remote areas, Bouchard said.

Though it’s relatively easy to throw up a photovoltaic panel on a roof top, siting plants for commercial generation is very regulated. Impacts on the environment, noise emissions and even archeological value have to be researched and studied, explained Laurie Woodall, former chairwoman of the Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee of the ACC. Arizona Department of Water Quality and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality have to sign off on any proposal.

Though solar generated power has zero emissions, water-cooled plants like the proposed Solana will use lots of water, though less than in agricultural use.

“It’s a trade-off,” said David Getts, general manager of Southwestern Power and developer of the Bowie Natural Gas Power Plant. “Dry cooled uses fans which consume electricity.”

Southwestern Power plans to add a solar component to the Bowie project and is actively seeking partners for the endeavor, Getts added.

New technologies help farmers and ranchers through solar powered pumps that can lift water out of wells into stock tanks or into irrigation ditches saving them aggravation when the windmills go down or the generator has to be refueled at those remote sites.

Randy Cureton and Dale Cureton who own D & M Well Service provided the solar pumps to the off-the-grid 47 Ranch on Davis Road. Where windmills and generators used to power the pumps, the sun does that chore now.

Matt Hamilton, of SunPumps, offers a variety of solar pumps that can pull water up from the depths and pump it high into huge storage tanks. The pumps can also carry water throughout a field for irrigation.

Grants, rebates and state as well as federal tax incentives can lower the cost of a system and make it more affordable for homeowner and commercial users, said George Couch, state public affairs specialist.

APS and SSVEC do have special programs for residential solar generation, though there are stipulations.

Outside on the campus lawn, solar power was in action. Vikki Kellogg and her son Cory Hogan, of Green Triangle Industries, were using an 80-watt photovoltaic panel to harness the sun’s power and make banana-strawberry smoothies. The sun never tasted so good.