Wind, wave and solar-electric power production have all been discussed or explored.

The Lewes Board of Public Works (BPW) is considering the second solar-electric idea it has heard this year.

The panel at its Sept. 23 meeting heard a proposal from Renewable Power Partners Inc., based in Villanova, Pa.

Robert Rabe and Dennis Satnick, company partners, said Renewable Power Partners develops, designs, builds and owns large-scale, solar-electric systems used by consumers such as colleges, cold-storage facilities and municipalities.

Rabe said the company designs solar-electric systems that produce a minimum of 1 megawatt and up.

In a preliminary proposal, which Satnick said was based on a few assumptions and some partial data, he said Lewes’ beachfront parking lot area, rooftops of the Board of Public Works’ Howard Seymour Water Reclamation Plant and Cape Henlopen High School appear to be the best locations in which to place solar-electric panels.

Satnick said Lewes’ solar-electric facility would require 5 to 7 acres to produce about 1 megawatt of electricity.

Satnick said Renewable Power Partners would make money through the sale of electricity produced by the system and would enter into a 20- to 25-year power-purchase agreement with the BPW and City of Lewes. He said the company would be able to sell electricity to the BPW produced by the system for about 7 cents per kilowatt hour.

The average price this year per kilowatt hour used in Delaware is 14 cents.

Satnick estimated the cost to build the system at $7 million – a price tag he said some might consider unaffordable, but one he said he expects to continue declining.

Satnick said solar-energy credits and the steadily dropping cost of photovoltaic panels would make the project possible for a municipality that owned vacant land that could be leased or sold.

He said the company would pay about $35,000 a year to lease the 181,000 square feet the system would need.

Satnick said Renewable Power Partners would be responsible for system maintenance. He said the proposed system would take about 300 days to build, would provide local jobs and would be an environmentally green facility.

The board did not take action on the proposal.