GVR to hold forum on solar installation | Local News Stories

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GVR will hold a forum Thursday to address questions about a solar panel installation project that could begin as early as September and last much of a year.

The $4 million project, financed by manufacturer Solaris Energy, will install 11 solar panel projects at 10 GVR sites.

Members can expect restricted access to centers during construction, said Miles Waterbury, communications specialist at GVR, but no closures are anticipated. Rooftop, or carport solar panels will be installed at the following locations by Solar Gain, the designer and installer, which also will have representatives at the meeting.

•Santa Rita Springs Center

•GVR Administrative Office

The forum is at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the West Center Auditorium.

Once every center is up and running, the projected first year of savings is about $90,000, according to GVR.

Pima County has had 20 solar panel installations at various facilities since August 2010. So far, the county has saved $219,891 in energy consumption. Although the initial installation didn’t cost anything, three installations and four meters “show negative savings,” according to a memo from County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry dated July 9. The county is investigating the anomaly.

After more than a year of planning, the GVR board unanimously approved the project June 26.

Each individual GVR center project, once individually approved, has a 180 day timeframe for completion.

The process of capturing solar energy, then selling it back to Tucson Electric Power to offset energy costs, is highly regulated, GVR CEO Kent Blumenthal said in June.

Each site will have to be approved by TEP as well as GVR’s architectural engineering firm before it moves ahead.

Local HOAs will weigh in on neighborhood projects because maintaining the visual integrity of sight lines is important, Blumenthal said. Green Valley Council will be next in line to sign off on the installations.

Solar Gain, a Tucson-based solar panel design and installation firm, will manage the GVR project.

Jeremiah Mosij, marketing and sales director at Solar Gain, said in June within the first year of usage, each site will receive about 87 percent of its energy from solar energy. Officials from Solar Gain did not return requests for follow-up information.

Installing a rooftop panel is the first choice, because its cheaper, Mosij said. However, if a carport panel is installed, it will add shady areas to facility parking lots.

From start to finish, the installation process will take about a year, Waterbury said via email.

“We could see completion of the entire project by spring/summer of 2019, depending on the timing of approved plans.”

Blumenthal praised the board in late June for wading through more than a year’s worth of work towards a solar option for its facilities.

GVR Board President Carol Crothers said although this project is a large undertaking, it’s also an exciting opportunity to reduce costs and make GVR’s operations much more environmentally friendly.

“It’s going to be a major job over the next year, but we’re all gung-ho to get going,” she said.

David J. Del Grande | 547-9732



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Launching Our STEM Learning to Solar Heights!

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My students need some Aoshike and Sunnytech solar panels, Eudax DC Motors, and OWI STEM kits and various tools and materials to better be able …

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KERMIT “BO” DOROUGH: MEAG funds should be used to construct solar farm | Opinion

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Articles in recent editions of The Albany Herald reveal much about the poor leadership in this community. One story reported on the Dougherty County Commission considering a request to rezone property from agricultural to allow a company to construct a 120-megawatt solar farm. The following day we learned that the Albany City Commission voted to spend $6.5 million on streetlights and $20.8 million “for the gradual implementation of advanced utility metering infrastructure.”

Many citizens are convinced the City Commission’s decision to assume management and operation of Albany Water Gas & Light was an exercise of poor judgment. The commission laid claim to the $77 million in MEAG money rather than issue rebates to the customers who had paid the assessments or dedicate the funds to the needs of the city’s utility. One would think the City Commission would have earmarked these funds for improvements such as those that are now costing in excess of $28 million – an investment that will almost certainly be recouped in the utility bills sent out to WG&L’s customers each month.

The fact that a company is presently considering an investment of several hundred million dollars confirms southwest Georgia is an excellent region for production of solar power, yet, apparently, not one of the commissioners, at any time, even considered utilizing a portion of the MEAG funds to construct a solar farm.

I had qualms about the city’s decision to retain WG&L’s portion of the money that had accumulated during the years MEAG maintained the competitive trust. First, these funds had been paid by consumers to protect MEAG, not themselves, against a contingency – deregulation of electrical supply – which never occurred. Thus, ratepayers clearly had a legitimate claim to the sums they had paid into that account.

Second, the sums paid by consumers were, in many cases, drastically different. Someone who owned both a home and a business in WG&L’s service area for the entire period the trust was in operation obviously paid much more into the fund than someone who had service with WG&L for a year or two. Third, the city eventually spent much of the money in areas of the city that are not serviced by WG&L. The residents of these neighborhoods did not make any payments into the trust.

While many of your readers may not appreciate the many advantages of renewable energy, there are several compelling reasons a large portion of the money from MEAG should have been invested in a solar farm. First, and most importantly, the addition of a solar component would have eventually reduced utility costs. The cost of installation, for a 40-acre solar farm, would have been less than $20 million. The primary expense after installation of the panels is maintenance and distribution. It would have been relatively inexpensive to transmit electricity from Lily Pond Road to power stations in the city.

The solar farm would have produced a significant portion of the utility demand of WG&L’s service area, at minimal costs. This would have resulted in some savings to the utility’s customers. Second, Albany purchases all of the electricity distributed to customers of WG&L. The cost of this electricity fluctuates, sometimes drastically, due to economic and political factors over which MEAG has no control. WG&L would have had the ability to mitigate rate increases, in times of heightened demand and/or energy shortages, due to savings realized from the production of solar power.

Third, there would be some job creation, as the solar farm would be maintained and operated by trained staff. Fourth, any excess production could be stored for future use. Fifth, the highest production season, the summer, would coincide with the greatest demand for electricity. Sixth, renewable energy is environmentally beneficial, as it significantly reduces carbon emissions.

The City Commission should provide the community with a detailed accounting of how the MEAG money has been expended. Any available funds should be designated to construction of a solar farm – a project that should have been considered, approved and completed shortly after the first allocation of funds in 2009.

Attorney Kermit “Bo” Dorough practices law in Albany. He previously served on the Albany City Commission.



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Typhoon – Solar Energy HTML Template by webstrot

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Typhoon Solar and Wind Energy HTML Template

Typhoon Solar and Wind Energy HTML is a stylish HTML Template with modern industrial design that will be an ideal option for a supplier of the renewable energy, a store of solar panels, solar panels maintenance company, a producer of solar panels, recycling company, organic & biology services, that is for a variety of eco-friendly types of business. Typhoon is for environmental protection agencies, environment-friendly initiatives like preserving the green forests, Home, commercial Solar Solution Provides and others involved in organic farming, animal husbandry and welfare groups besides NGOs and Crowdfunding apart from all the others involved in harnessing the alternative sources of energy.

Theme Features

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  • Designed With Responsiveness in Mind
  • nice JQuery files: Responsive Slider, Preloader, Menu…
  • Google Web Fonts
  • Compatible With Major Modern Browsers
  • Easy to Use and Easy to Customize
  • 100{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} Support
  • All files are well commented and organized
  • Page Templates (Blog, Home Page, Contact us etc.)
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  • Strong focus on design and typography, usability and overall user-experience
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Photo, Fonts, Script, & Icon Credits

  • Fonts : Google Webfonts
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Please note that images used in live preview are not included in the package. If you have any questions please feel free to email via my support. Thank you!

Outro

Once again, thank you so much for Watching this Template. As I said at the beginning, I’d be glad to help you if you have any questions relating to this Template. No guarantees, but I’ll do my best to assist. If you have a more general question relating to the Template, please feel free to email via my support.

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GLADA installs rooftop solar power panel

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Ludhiana August 25

The Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) has installed rooftop solar power plant on the roof of its main office on Ferozepur Road, Ludhiana. GLADA officials claimed that around 200-250 kilowatt hour of power is generated everyday with this solar power plant of 64 kilowatt.

After the successful installation and functioning of their first rooftop solar power plant, GLADA is going to install such solar power plants at Sector 38 and 39 A, Community Centre at Dugri, parking sheds and their other offices.

SDE Suraj Chand said they were saving more after installation of the rooftop solar panels. He further said they planned to install such panels at other locations. On every Saturday, Sunday or other holiday, the power generated through this rooftop solar panel was sold to PSPCL, he said.

GLADA Chief Administrator Parminder Singh Gill said they were saving power as the energy saver LED lights had been installed at GLADA office. He said they would install smart LED lights in various Urban Estates that had been developed by GLADA. — TNS



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Protesting the “TVA runaround” | Times Free Press

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Photo by
Contributed Photo
/Times Free Press.

More Info

TVA rates vs. costs

Low rates:

* TVA residential electric rates are the 23rd lowest among the top 100 utilities

* TVA industrial electric rates are the 7th lowest among the top 100 utilities

But high costs:

* The average monthly residential electric bill in Tennessee in 2016 was $128.89 — the fifth highest of any state and 14.5 percent above the U.S. avearage. Residential electricity bills were highest that year at $145.55 a month in Alabama, also in the TVA service territory.

Sources: Energy Information Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority

Environmental and consumer groups opposed to changes in power prices and programs by the Tennessee Valley Authority took to the streets Saturday to run around the agency’s power headquarters to protest what they claim is the runaround TVA is giving about power rates and bills.

Nearly two dozen protesters conducted the 0.5-kilometer run, billed as the “TVA Run-A-Round,” to offer what they say is a tongue-in-cheek taste of TVA’s own medicine.

TVA rates are among the lowest 25 percent of U.S. electricity utilities, and the average cost of delivered power has risen less than a half of a percent per year over the past five years, or less than one fourth the overall inflation rate.

“The trajectory we are on will provide sustainable low rates and high reliability, in my opinion, for at least the next decade,” TVA President Bill Johnson told the TVA board last week.

But because so many homes and businesses in the Tennessee Valley are poorly insulated and rely upon inefficient heating, cooling and lighting, power bills in the region are still among the highest in the nation. TVA also has cut back on many of its energy efficiency programs, although it still supports its Energy Right audits and targeted programs for low-income homeowners in its five biggest cities.

“TVA keeps touting its low rates, but in the end, that’s not what you see on your electric bills,” said Laura Humphrey, an energy policy associate for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy who helped organize today’s “run around” the TVA Chattanooga Office Complex. “When you combine rates, usage and the increasing fixed charges TVA is imposing on local power companies, then you have a really high energy burden. We feel like TVA is just giving us the runaround and isn’t addressing the concerns we keep raising.”

At Wednesday’s meeting of the TVA board in Knoxville, NAACP leaders from across the state appealed to the utility to remove the new grid access charge adopted earlier this year and to restore more incentives for homeowners to install solar panels and energy conservation measures.


Environmental and consumer activists ran around the TVA power headquarters today to protest what they claim is the runaround they are getting from TVA about its rates and programs. The protesters want TVA to spend more on energy conservation and renewable energy to help ease the energy burden of homeowners.

Environmental and consumer activists ran around the TVA…

Photo by
 Dave Flessner
 /Times Free Press.

“We are tired of TVA continuing to incentivize higher energy users while families and small businesses throughout the [Tennessee] Valley are burdened with incredibly high bills every month,” said Jimmie Garland, a Tennessee vice president for the NAACP. “Now, with the new ‘Grid Access Charge,’ customers may see even higher bills. This is bad rate design and increases the already heavy burden on some of our most vulnerable communities.”

Johnson said the energy burden is higher in the valley for a host of reasons, including the climate, the poor housing stock and the relatively low income in the region. Although power bills may be most important to consumers, the TVA Act directs the agency to maintain “rates as low as are feasible.”

“This is our statutory requirement, and I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m pretty intent on abiding by federal statutes,” Johnson said.

Shedding light on solar costs, subsidies

The TVA president also bristled last week at claims that solar generation would help ease the energy burden in the Tennessee Valley.

“Part of the energy burden today that low-income and other folks have is paying the subsidy for the energy choices that other people make,” Johnson said. “In America, you can put as much solar as you want on your home or business, but the question is how much you want your neighbor to help pay for it.”

TVA has phased out the premium prices it once paid for solar power generation, although solar generators still qualify for federal income tax credits that help finance many such projects.

TVA claims it has contracted to buy $8 billion of renewable power over the next 20 years, but Johnson said the terms of those solar, wind and other renewable power purchase agreements are private and the agency has declined to disclose the terms, costs or investments in the projects.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, TVA declined to detail the $8 billion it says it is spending, claiming such contracts “are confidential commercial and financial information that is pre-decisional and deliberative.”

TVA has contracted to buy wind-generated power for independent power producers and is offering community solar projects in Chattanooga and other major markets, offering the solar purchase or lease option for community solar to more than 1.4 million persons.

“By the end of the year, I also think you’ll see us make an announcement of a significant [solar power] purchase in the amount of a couple hundred megawatts, and I think over the next couple of years you’ll see a couple of those size announcements for more solar,” Johnson said Wednesday.

TVA is building more such renewable power, in part, to meet the demand by major companies such as Google, Amazon and other businesses expanding in the Tennessee Valley.

But TVA still gets less than 1 percent of its energy from solar and Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, called TVA claims “misleading and false” and questioned why a public utility is “allow the staff to block transparent information.”

TVA board adds day for listening session

In response to such public concerns, TVA directors agreed Wednesday to change how they conduct the listening sessions before their quarterly board meetings when any member of the public is allowed to address the entire board for three minutes. TVA Director Eric Satz, chairman of TVA’s external relations committee, conceded that the format for the public listening sessions the board has conducted over the past several years before each of their public meetings “is not working.” As a result, the board voted to add an extra day to its quarterly public meetings and to set aside time on the day before each board meeting to hear public comments about TVA.

“Our hope is that listening session becomes less formal and intimidating without a stage or lights or cameras to allow more people to come forward,” Satz said.

TVA Chairman Richard Howorth said TVA has numerous avenues for public comment on its programs and activities, and he said adding a day for the public listening session to give more time for the board to consider such input “is another step in the right direction.”

“As a public entity, TVA must balance many competing interests,” he said. “Even though TVA cannot please all stakeholders all the time, what we can do is listen and consider those different perspectives.”

The first such new public listening session will be conducted ahead of the Nov. 9 TVA board meeting scheduled in Counce, Tennessee.

Contact staff writer Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.



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Solar power today: Technology advances help drive solar innovation – Industrial Strength – Blogs

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By any measure, the solar power industry is experiencing significant growth. In fact, the industry turned a very critical corner without much notice: a recent study found that solar-generated power is profitable without financial support in at least 30 countries. As a result, the global capacity for solar-generated power has reached an all-time high of over 300GW. Manufacturers and installers are rushing to bring solar power systems to market that are competitively positioned to take full advantage of the growing demand.

I recently authored a white paper that looked at some of the key trends in the solar industry regarding material and labor costs; standardization; and solar electronics technology, including storage and digital control innovations.

The price per watt of solar-generated electricity is becoming competitive with the price of electricity generated by coal- and natural gas-fired plants for these reasons:

  • Decreasing prices for silicon materials in photovoltaic (PV) panels.
  • Improved conversion efficiencies in the panels.
  • Improved efficiency of AC generation techniques and equipment.
  • Industry and infrastructure standardization.

In addition, utility provider incentives and simplified installation techniques are reducing upfront costs, further shortening the time for the equipment to pay for itself.

The application of several technologies, including the digital power benefits shown in Figure 1, is also contributing to the increased adoption of solar power:

  • Advanced digital control technology combined with advancements made in power electronics using wide bandgap power devices (GaN and SiC), along with their gate driver solutions to increase system efficiency and density.
  • Intelligence in the smart grid helps balance the variable solar supply with the demand for power.
  • Excess energy storage technologies allow solar power to rival fossil fuel sources.

Figure 1: Digital power benefits

Technologies like TI’s C2000™ microcontrollers (MCUs) and the solar tools that support them are giving PV panel designers and solar system developers a new baseline of capabilities from which they can more effectively lead the solar industry into the future.
The phenomenal growth of the solar power industry is attributable to a wide range of societal, technical and economic forces. And yet, the momentum that is undeniably present now will only accelerate as the market continues to apply further innovations.

Additional resources



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Govt not focused on exploring untapped renewable energy sources

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Guests and speakers attend a seminar on renewable energy organised by the National Committee to Protect Sunderbans, Bapa and BPI at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Saturday. — New Age photo

Though Bangladesh is a mine of untapped renewable energy resources the government is paying no attention to explore them, renewable energy experts and green activists said Saturday.
Speaking at a seminar they said that the government prepared its energy policy disregarding the untapped renewable energy resources of the country.
The seminar on ‘the unstoppable revolution: towards a 100 per cent renewable energy future’ was jointly organized by Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, National Committee to Protect the Sundarbans and the Blue Planet Initiative at the National Press Club.
The experts urged the government to frame strategic plans by shifting the focus from fossil-fuel-based energy generation to renewable sources of energy.
In his keynote paper US based leading renewable energy expert Sajed Kamal described Bangladesh as an untapped mine of renewable energies with its abundant sunlight, heat, wind, water movements and photosynthesis.
He said that compared to Germany, which became an example worth emulating by setting the goal of 100 per cent transition to renewable energy by 2050, Bangladesh is blessed by twice the amount of solar radiation.
Bangladesh is exceptionally and naturally endowed with its integrated renewable energy mine, Sajed said.
If harnessed judiciously this energy mine, he said, has an inexhaustible capacity to meet the country’s energy needs for now and the future.
Sajed said that the best possible utilization of Bangladesh’s abundant and free renewable energy sources with affordable technology could replace the conventional energy plants.
He said that this could also render political rationalization obsolete that the solution for Bangladesh lies in fossil fuel based as well as the Rampal coal-fired plant and Rooppur nuclear plant.
He called for a thorough review of the National Power Sector Master Plan 2016 that sets the target of generating 30 per cent energy from coal, 10 per cent from nuclear plants and 15 per cent from renewables by 2041.
Dhaka University economics professor MM Akash also called for reviewing the National Power Sector Master Plan 2016 to put greater emphasis on power generation from renewable sources.
Akash said the government should subsidize solar energy generation instead of fossil fuel based power generation.
DU geology professor Badrul Imam called the current renewable energy generation scenario as ‘not optimistic’.
He said solar energy generation has been left to individual families as neither the government nor any company took interest to invest in large scales in the area.
He said that according to current projections 1,050 MW solar power would be generated by not efficient companies as they got the licences due to political considerations and not for their technical capability.
BAPA vice-president and Bishwo Shahitto Kendro chairman Abdullah Abu Sayeed called the Bangladeshi policymakers’ and investors’ failure to comprehend the country’s vast renewable energy potentials as ‘regrettable’.
Green activist Sultana Kamal said that fossil-fuel based energy generation was causing irreparable harm to nature.
She said that switching over to renewable energy needed political will, policy decision, corruption-free good management and technical expertise.



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Solar panels – Semper Solaris

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American Made Solar Panels

If you’re looking for 100{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} USA made solar panels, you have the right to choose so here. Going solar American style is what Semper Solaris does best. A lot of global brands will claim to be “designed” in America, but most of the production is shipped out to who knows where. Freedom to choose American Made Solar PanelsWhat we do know is that with Semper, you have the freedom to choose American made solar panels if that’s what you’re looking for. We’ve teamed up with Panasonic to offer you one of the only 100{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} American made solar panels you can find in California. Panasonic solar panels are proudly manufactured in Buffalo, New York, and their efforts are helping push America towards true renewable energy independence. Why is adopting renewable energy so important for America? Not only is the American solar industry creating jobs, improving our economy, and reducing electrical costs, it’s also protecting our environment. We have some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world and reducing our carbon footprint is a step towards protecting the natural beauty of this country that we love. As our country grows, so will our need to consume more electricity. Investing in renewable solar energy is an easy way to ensure you are protected from increasing electrical bills as well as taking part in protecting our environment from pollution and waste.

Why is adopting renewable energy so important for America?

Not only is the American solar industry creating jobs, improving our economy, and reducing electrical costs, it’s also protecting our environment. We have some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world and reducing our carbon footprint is a step towards protecting the natural beauty of this country that we love.

As our country grows, so will our need to consume more electricity. Investing in renewable solar energy is an easy way to ensure you are protected from increasing electrical bills as well as taking part in protecting our environment from pollution and waste.

 

Panasonic is also making strides in making our world a cleaner place to live. Panasonic uses a unique eco-friendly packaging system to transport its solar panels to you home, minimizing cardboard waste and giving you a little bit more pride in your renewable energy decision.

Solar Panel Maintenance

There’s not a lot of moving parts on a solar panel system, and maintenance is generally not needed. However, you can never rule out the unexpected and even California gets a hail storm every once in a while. Whether damage from debris or a shorted circuit, our team at Semper Solaris can repair your solar panels.

For preventative solar panel maintenance, we recommend checking your solar panels for dust and debris a few times per year. If your solar panels are in a hard to reach location, or you do not feel comfortable climbing up on top of your roof, please call a licensed solar panel installation expert to conduct your routine cleaning and maintenance.

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Coccidioidomycosis Outbreak Among Workers Constructing a Solar Power Farm — Monterey County, California, 2016–2017

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Investigation and Results

Preconstruction preparations at the approximately 3,000-acre solar farm in Monterey County began in February 2016, and construction started in June 2016 in two phases; the first was completed in August 2017, and the second is expected to continue through the end of 2018. A confirmed case of coccidioidomycosis was defined by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists as a diagnosed illness that met clinical criteria for coccidioidomycosis and was laboratory confirmed (4); CDPH further required that illness occurred in a solar farm construction employee, with symptom onset ≥1 week after beginning work and <1 month after the final workday at the solar farm. Employee rosters for February 2016–April 2017 provided by the solar farm owner were matched with the statewide CDPH coccidioidomycosis surveillance database to aid in case-finding. Patients identified through this matching process were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to obtain information on clinical signs and symptoms, occupational exposures, and use of dust control measures at the workplace. Medical records were requested from health care providers, and data were abstracted to confirm that patients met clinical and laboratory criteria. Employee rosters and interviews were used to confirm timing of illness onset associated with solar farm employment. The incidence rate among solar farm workers was calculated by dividing the number of confirmed cases by total person-years spent on the worksite among all employees during the period covered by owner-provided rosters. To calculate person-years, the total number of days between first and last day onsite for each employee was obtained from rosters; total person-days was then converted to person-years by dividing by 365. The annualized incidence among employees at this worksite was compared with background 2016 rates for Monterey and other counties surrounding the worksite by calculating a rate ratio with 95{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} confidence interval (CI) for each comparison county.

Among 2,410 employees who had worked at the solar farm for ≥1 day, 16 matches between employee rosters and the CDPH coccidioidomycosis surveillance database were identified; medical records were obtained for all 16, and 11 persons were interviewed by telephone. Overall, nine confirmed cases of coccidioidomycosis were identified among the 16 patients; three persons did not meet clinical criteria, and four did not meet work-related illness onset criteria. Eight of nine patients with confirmed coccidioidomycosis were interviewed; one could not be reached after multiple attempts and was confirmed by review of medical records and employment rosters only. Among the nine confirmed cases, median patient age was 42 years (interquartile range = 31–46 years), and seven were male (Table 1). Patients resided in four California counties (Fresno, Madera, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo). Six received diagnoses of coccidioidomycosis pneumonia; five had visited emergency departments from one to four times; one was hospitalized; and none died. Among the eight interviewed patients, seven reported missing work because of illness (median: 14 days; range = 1–320 days).

Illness onset for the nine patients occurred during August–December 2016 (Figure). Seasonal rains, which suppressed dust, began in late December 2016 and continued through mid-April 2017; most of the first phase of construction was completed by May 2017. All patients reported working outdoors at the solar farm and had job titles that included biologist, paleontologist, electrician, truck driver, iron worker, and general laborer. All eight patients interviewed reported high dust levels frequently (every day or once a week); seven reported that water trucks were frequently unable to control dust levels; five reported frequently working in or near a ditch or trench; no patient was assigned to another work location or sent home because of high dust levels. Seven reported both infrequent (sometimes, rarely, or never) use of respiratory protection and no respirator fit-testing. Although seven reported receiving safety training about Valley fever, only three patients knew what to do if they had symptoms; subsequent review of training materials identified deficiencies (e.g., not emphasizing the potential for Valley fever to be a severe illness, not describing prevention strategies, and not indicating where employees should seek clinical care). No patients reported exposure to a dust cloud or other source of dust or dirt outside of work during the 4 weeks before illness onset.

The annualized coccidioidomycosis incidence among solar farm workers at this worksite was 1,095 per 100,000 persons/year; whereas the 2016 incidence in Monterey County was 17.5 per 100,000 population, corresponding to a rate ratio of 62.6 (95{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} CI = 31.4–124.8). Rate ratios for the five counties surrounding the worksite (Fresno, Kern, Kings, San Benito, and San Luis Obispo) ranged from 4.4 to 210.6 (Table 2). These findings indicate that the coccidioidomycosis incidence among employees was significantly higher than the background incidence rates in surrounding counties.

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