French Prairie is an all-Oregon project, showcasing what can be accomplished through creative, responsible partnering between the public and private sectors. Partners include:
- Portland General Electric and its financial partner for the project, Bank of America
- SolarWorld in Hillsboro (solar panels) and Advanced Energy of Bend (inverters)
- Aadland Evans Constructors Inc., Portland, general contractor
- Moyano Leadership Group Inc., Salem, civil design leader
- Advanced Energy Systems, Eugene, solar power specialty designer and installer
- HatiCon Solar and SAPA, with offices in Portland, providing racking for the project
- PHC Northwest of Portland, providing security lighting
- Good Company, Eugene, provided the project’s greenhouse gas analysis
Portland General Electric procured the project using a value-added public-private partnerships approach. PGE operates and maintains the French Prairie array under a lease arrangement with Bank of America, which financed and owns the project. The energy goes into the PGE grid to serve PGE customers, including the state of Oregon and ODOT.
The array, while generating clean energy, also adds value to a piece of publicly-owned land. During design, development and construction, the project supported at least nine different Oregon businesses, and it will continue to showcase those Oregon firms into the future. For example, the security lighting system was designed and built by Portland Habilitation Center Northwest. The lamps are energy-efficient LEDs that only come on if pressure is applied to the “smart fence” or if motion is sensed in the area, making this an energy-wise and sustainable design. In keeping with night sky standards, even when the lights are on, they point downward towards the earth, reducing their contribution to light pollution.
Landscaping for the project was provided through a partnership between PGE, ODOT, the Clackamas County Master Gardeners Association and the OSU Extension Service. Master gardeners planted and supervise the maintenance of the water-wise landscape, which features plants that thrive in the hot, dry summers and wet, cold winters experienced in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. These plants require minimal care, providing years of beauty and enjoyment with very little effort – a lot like solar energy!