Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland announced Monday that a carport solar panel array at the Athens Community Center will be one of 25 projects to receive grant funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's state energy program.

The $631,637 grant would pay for installing a 220 kW photovoltaic solar array system on four carport structures in the parking lot of the community center.

Last week, the city of Athens signed a letter of intent with a Columbus-based company to enter into a power-purchase agreement for the array. This is after City Council last month voted 5-2 in favor of the ordinance authorizing Mayor Paul Wiehl to enter such an agreement, with Third Ward member Nancy Bain and at-large member Jim Sands voting against adoption.

The total project cost is a little over $1.5 million, at-large member Elahu Gosney said at the time of the vote, adding that a grant could cover up to $600,000 of that. Solar Vision would apply for the grant, Gosney explained, not the city of Athens. Solar Vision would actually own the array, and would sell power to the city of Athens at an agreed-upon discount.

Thomas Van Cleef, Solar Vision managing director and vice president, said the company's mission is to provide the organizations it serves with immediate cost savings, while simultaneously conserving environmental resources.

"Federal and state governments have enacted initiatives that encourage clean solar-energy systems, so the time is right to offer schools and municipalities a way to benefit from solar power," Van Cleef said.

Solar Vision maintains that the project in Athens would reduce 4,757 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere - the equivalent of not driving 14.6 million miles in an average car.

"We are excited to be associated with Solar Vision and hope to be able to move forward in the next few months with the Community Center solar project," Gosney said announcing the letter of intent. "We want to find ways to use renewable energy sources, show others what is possible and lead by example. Solar Vision helps provide the means to do this."

Van Cleef said that for tax-supported municipal entities, finding tax dollars for clean-energy projects isn't viable right now.

"Solar Vision makes solar projects possible by removing all upfront costs," he said.

Gosney told City Council at the time of the vote that under the agreement - assuming that Solar Vision could arrange the financing with the grant money -the city would not put any money upfront to pay for the system but would agree to a 30-year contract to purchase the electricity from the system. Solar Vision would own the array.

"The standard boilerplate for how a power-purchase agreement works is they guarantee a certain level of savings over what you would otherwise pay," Gosney said. The city would still get a bill from American Electric Power, but also a bill from Solar Vision at a lower-cost-per-kW hour than is paid to AEP, he explained.

Both Bain and Sands expressed concerns about the length of the agreement.

"I am still reluctant to enter into this agreement for that length of time with a third-party installation on our property," Sands said. "I'm just concerned that this would be an outdated installation before the lifespan was over."

State Rep. Debbie Phillips, D-Athens, applauded the grant announcement, saying it would place 937 solar panels on the carports, providing 25 to 30 percent of the center's power needs.

Phillips said the project will include four Ohio companies, including one company based in Athens: Solar Vision, Dovetail Solar and Wind, ProteckPark and Schreiber & Associates. Dovetail has the local presence. Between nine and 11 jobs are expected to be retained or created due to the project, Phillips said.

"This project will create new jobs, increase our energy independence and further strengthen southeastern Ohio's position as a leader in the development of clean and renewable energy," Phillips said. "Further, the project is projected to provide $224,000 in energy cost savings over the next 25 years."

With the grant funding providing a little less than half of the total estimated cost of the project, it was unclear where the rest of the money will come from for completion.

Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said Wednesday that he doesn't know the answer as to where the additional funds will come from, and Gosney had not returned calls seeking comment by press time. Neither did Solar Vision.

Solar Vision would own the array, and the project has been said to be cost-neutral to the city, so presumably the remainder of the monies for the project would come through Solar Vision in some capacity.