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The South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID), located in Southern San Joaquin County, California, was formed in 1909. It was established to provide a reliable and affordable source of irrigation water for 72,000 acres of agricultural area surrounding Escalon, Ripon, and Manteca, California. In 2005, as unprecedented urban growth replaced agricultural land, the district expanded into providing domestic water service to South San Joaquin County cities with its state-of-the-art membrane filtration water treatment plant. (SSJID )’s historic water rights allow for several hydroelectric power plants on a series of dams and reservoirs on the Stanislaus River. SSJID and Oakdale Irrigation District completed the original Melones Reservoir in 1926, and since 1957 have co-owned the Tri-Dam Project, consisting of Donnells Dam, Beardsley Dam, and Tulloch Dam reservoirs and powerhouses. ==The World’s First Single-Axis Solar Tracking System== SSJID recently (dedicated July 18, 2008) completed a 1.4 megawatt solar farm that provides nearly all of the electricity to run its water treatment plant, saving the district over $400,000 annually in power costs. SSJID’s solar farm is recognized as the world’s first single-axis solar tracking system featuring thin-film photovoltaic cells. The tracking system was developed by Conergy, the premier leader in the solar technology field. The District recognized that through this technology, it could not only reduce the electricity costs of its customers, but it could stabilize costs which usually fluctuate seasonally. “The project’s main goal was to stabilize electrical costs, which can spike substantially in summer months given local time of use (TOU) metering,” said SSJID Utility Systems Director Don Battles. In addition to the project’s $400,000 annual electric bill savings, the solar energy systems provide the District with a hedge against rising utility costs. And, he adds, both projects are hooked into the state’s electrical grid, which means the District will be able to sell its surplus, peak-time energy (another precious commodity) back to the local utility. ROSI (Return On Solar Investment) is an advantage that benefits both companies and residential consumers. The system that SSJID adopted works to actually track and follow the sun, turning on its central axis for optimum exposure to the sun. “Photovoltaic” means that the sunlight is converted directly to electricity. Conversion rates vary around 15% but by using solar tracking, it is estimated to increase efficiency by 30-40%. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「South San Joaquin Irrigation District」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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