Solar might not seem like the ideal power source in Oregon, but as interest in solar increases in this northwest and elsewhere, the renewable energy source can join the other renewables that already provide power for this green state.

Paul Norman, Bonneville Power Administration’s recently retired senior vice president of power services discussed the history of renewables in Oregon, what place solar will have in the state and the United States, and what challenges still face solar’s growth in the U.S.

Norman now serves on the board of Bonneville Environmental Foundation Inc., which has roots with Bonneville Power and supports renewable energy developments, like solar and wind in the U.S. For instance, the organization worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council to produce a guidebook that is helping sports stadiums and arenas go solar.

This is the first in a three part interview with Norman.

Norman began working with Bonneville 35 years ago.

“At the beginning of my career, I was involved in hydropower. Which I thought, ‘it’s a cool thing.’ We live in a part of the country where the air’s really clean, so why is it clean?” he said. “It’s clean because a huge fraction of the power here is from hydro, which emits nothing.”

He also noted that like solar and wind, there are no additional fuel costs, unlike fossil fuel power generation.

“Sixty percent of the power in this part of the country is hydro generated with very, very low operating costs,” he said. “So early in my career, I thought well we have that legacy, and it would be a great thing to continue that here with the next generation of renewables.”

Among the renewables poised to provide generating capacity in Oregon were solar, geothermal and wind.

“Early on, it appeared geothermal was promising. It didn’t really pan out. Wind came on; it kind of did pan out,” he said. “So that’s happening, but we need to keep that momentum going. So what’s the next generation of renewables, that’s in keeping with the great legacy of hydro renewables? And what’s the next thing that can keep that ball rolling? That’s what interested me.”

Norman said that solar will be the next renewable torch-bearer.

“I think you need to take a long view with renewables. Wind took 20 years to really get it off the ground, and I think solar’s probably the next wave,” he said. “It’s probably the thing that’s going to—10 years from now—look like wind does now. It’ll be a much bigger part of the resource base, but we have to go through sort of a dry patch with solar.”

He said that is because of low fossil fuel prices, pricing that doesn’t reflect the true cost of carbon and concerns over the deficit—all of which he said will stymie growth in solar in the short term.

But Norman pointed out that the strengths and weaknesses of solar and wind play off each other well.

“The kind of cool thing about wind and renewables in general, they tend not to be controllable,” he said. “Sun generates when the sun shines, and wind generates when the wind blows, and you can’t control either of those things. You need a system that can store the energy from the renewables and flex around the renewables and actually, hydro is great for that.”

Pictured: Norman (Right) and our intrepid writer Chris Meehan (Left), who had to follow Norman over dangerous rapids for weeks in order to get this interview.*

*Not entirely true.