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Haldeman Ford Dealership And e2/ECTA Install 310 kW Rooftop PV System In N.J.

New Jersey-based e2/ECTA Inc. and Haldeman Ford in Hamilton, N.J., have partnered to install a 310 kW commercial-scale PV system on the roof of the dealership.

Built on a flat, white thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roof, this installation incorporates technology from SolarEdge, including 13 SE20k inverters and 510 P700 optimizers, as well as 1,020 305 W modules from Lightway. Engineering, procurement and construction contractor e2/ECTA used a ballasted racking system and an extra sheet of TPO between the roof and the racking supports to further protect the roof and maintain its warranty.

According to Chris Panagopoulos, director of engineering at e2/ECTA, Haldeman Ford opted to install a solar project to save energy, obtain solar renewable energy credits and to “go green.”

The dealership elected to purchase the system outright, avoiding finance charges. At current electric rates, the system is expected to pay for itself in two years.

“This is the first time we used [the SolarEdge] system. It really simplified the installation and reduced the amount of parts and wiring [almost by half]. Also, the panels are addressable, so you can see what’s going on with every part of your system, which is good coming from an operations standpoint but also for installation,” Panagopoulos says.

He also points out that the system’s architecture, which is based on power optimizers, offers a number of advantages, such as fixed-voltage input regardless of temperature variations and improved performance under conditions of shading, allowing only the shaded panels to be affected rather than entire strings.

Although a rapid shutdown capability was not required at the time of the project’s design, e2/ECTA chose to implement the feature so the system would be compliant with imminent National Electrical Code requirements. When the inverters are turned off, the system allows the rapid shutdown of high-voltage DC across the roof to ensure the safety of maintenance personnel and firefighters.

Michael Rogerson, marketing manager for SolarEdge North America, says that system owners have the option to use a kiosk display to highlight daily production and any additional solar power information via a public Web page.

In December 2011, e2/ECTA installed a dedicated energy production kiosk at the Lawrence Township, N.J.-based Haldeman Lexus dealership, formerly Lawrence Lexus, another site owned by the same customer. This kiosk, as well as a TV display, exhibits data from the PV system.

According to Panagopoulos, a dedicated TV display will soon be installed on-site at Haldeman Ford as well, to display information on their PV system. This installation is intended to show customers that they are supporting an energy-efficient solar facility.

“It looks good that you’re going green,” Panagopoulos says. “It makes things look better for your customers. And with all the incentives, you’re looking at a payback of roughly two years for the system, so it’s really a smart business decision, no matter what.” - Lauren Tyler

 

Gardner Says Investors Eager For Utility Projects

Missouri-based investment firm Gardner Capital Inc. has provided tax equity financing for six solar utility-scale photovoltaic power generation systems in North Carolina totaling 37.5 MW.

The projects, developed by Heelstone Energy LLC, provide electricity to the Duke and North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency companies. The six facilities, all located in the Raleigh-Durham area, generate an estimated 56.9 GWh of electricity per year.

The North Carolina projects mark the first solar development for Gardner Capital. For the past 20 years, the firm had primarily been investing in low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC). Joe Benga, senior vice president and general manager of solar development, says the firms’ investors provided some of the impetus to move into the solar sector.

Gardner Capital took a long look at it and decided to make that move - which included hiring Benga, who brought solar development and financing experience from Chevron.

“In order to get this jump-started, we partnered with Heelstone Energy on these six projects in North Carolina,” Benga says.

Heelstone Energy, which also has experience in the LIHTC sector, was interested in diversifying into solar and asked Gardner Capital if they wanted to work together. Gardner spent two years performing due diligence on solar prior to embarking on the partnership with Heelstone on the North Carolina projects.

Pressure from investors encouraged capital to move into the mid-range utility market. According to Benga, the solar sector is an attractive market for tax equity investors due to the combination of state renewable portfolio standards, federal tax incentives and certain state incentives. Utility solar projects are particularity attractive because the market for that power is essentially guaranteed. Moreover, in certain situations, as it is in North Carolina, the utility is essentially required to sign a power purchase agreement for projects under 6 MW.

“Sustainable energy sources provide substantial economic and environmental benefits, and Gardner Capital’s business and financial strategies are designed to deliver disciplined growth in this arena,” says Michael Gardner, principal of Gardner Capital and president of Gardner Capital Solar Development. “The North Carolina power companies help us sustain a balanced portfolio of sustainable long-term assets.”

However, the numbers on future projects in North Carolina may not work once the state tax credit expires at the end of this year, Benga says. The firm is now actively looking beyond North Carolina for other solar projects to partner on.

“Our long-term goal is to do greenfield development,” Benga says. “We want to find places where we can obtain land, get site rights, develop the solar and then sell that power to the utility. We’re looking all over the country for such opportunities.”

It takes patience and perseverance to go through that, he adds, but there’s a lot of opportunity out there. - Michael Puttré

 

First Solar And Apple Sign $848 Million PPA

First Solar Inc. says Apple has committed $848 million for electricity from First Solar’s 280 MW California Flats solar project in Cholame, Calif.

Apple will receive 130 MW of the project output under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). First Solar says it is the largest such deal to provide solar energy to a commercial end user.

The output of the remaining 150 MW of the project will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under a separate long-term PPA.

The 2,900-acre California Flats solar project occupies land owned by Hearst Corp. In January, the Monterey County Planning Commission unanimously approved the California Flats Solar Project, sending the project to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors for approval, which is pending. Once given the green light, construction is expected to begin later this year and to be completed by the end of 2016.

“Apple’s commitment was instrumental in making this project possible and will significantly increase the supply of solar power in California,” says Joe Kishkill, chief commercial officer for First Solar.

 

Swissturn Installs
135 kW Solar Array

Swissturn/USA, a manufacturer of precision metal and plastic components, has partnered with Hopkinton, Mass.-based Solect Energy Development to install a 135.5 kW solar energy system on the roof of Swissturn’s Oxford, Mass., facility.

The system features 451 panels from ET Solar, Solectria inverters and mounting hardware from Ecolibrium’s Ecofoot 2.

The company consistently racks up massive energy bills due to Swissturn’s computer-controlled machines that run 24/7. By installing this solar system, Swissturn will cover up to 30% of its electricity costs, saving up to $20,000 a year.

In addition to the cost savings, Swissturn will also take advantage of state and federal financial and tax incentives, including solar renewable energy certificates.

 

Canadian Solar Acquires U.K. Projects

Canadian Solar Inc. has acquired six solar power projects totaling 46 MW in the U.K.

Four of the projects, totaling 40.5 MW, are currently under construction and will be connected to the grid in March. Two additional projects, totaling 5.5 MW, are expected to start construction before the end of February and will be connected to the grid in the second quarter, according to Canadian Solar.

“The U.K. is an important and rapidly growing solar market, and these transactions provide us with an attractive opportunity to leverage our expertise and balance sheet to redeploy capital to support our growth and create value for our shareholders,” says Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar.

Together, these six projects will produce approximately 50,183 kWh of electricity per year.

 

Innovative To Build
75 MW In N.C.

Innovative Solar Systems LLC (ISS) has received all necessary approvals to begin construction on a 75 MW solar farm in Fayetteville, N.C., totaling $165 million.

According to John E. Green, CEO of ISS, the new facility will be able to generate enough electricity to power approximately 20,000 average-size homes. The company says that this is one of the largest projects to ever be approved and built in the eastern U.S.

ISS has obtained interconnection agreements, long-term power purchase agreements, and long-term operations and maintenance agreements, in addition to state, federal and regulatory approvals for the project.

ISS is in final negotiations with potential owners and investors who seek to own the solar facility.

 

SunEdison Completes System For AT&T

SunEdison Inc. has completed a 677 kW ground-mount solar photovoltaic system for the AT&T materials distribution facility in Lancaster, Texas.

The new system incorporates 2,000 SunEdison solar modules. SunEdison’s TerraForm Power subsidiary is a partner on the project.

“We see the benefits that come from diversifying our energy supply to include sources like solar,” says Holly Reed, regional vice president of AT&T. “Lancaster is the perfect community to continue our solar collaboration right here in Texas.”

 

Las Positas Hosting
Solar-Storage Project

The Chabot-Las Positas Community College District in California is installing an energy storage system in support of a 2.35 MW solar array as part of a California Energy Commission (CEC) microgrid project.

The district will install Imergy Power Systems’ EPS30 vanadium redox flow batteries with a total capacity of 250 kW/1 MWh. Growing Energy Labs Inc. is supplying its energy management system.

The installation joins the aforementioned array, which is on the grounds of Las Positas College in Livermore, Calif. The existing facilities include an ice-based thermal storage system and 10 electric vehicle charging stations.

The microgrid project is part of the CEC’s $26.5 million Electric Program Investment Charge to develop a road map for local electricity generation and emergency preparedness. The project participants will also collaborate with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and San Ramon, Calif.-based Olivine on using microgrids in support of demand response programs.

Imergy says its technology will be used to reduce peak power, balance energy loads and isolate individual applications for greater reliability and resiliency, among other applications.

“Microgrids will become one of the primary ways consumers and businesses around the world get their electricity in the future,” says Bill Watkins, CEO of Imergy Power Systems. “Solar, software and storage are making distributed energy possible in the same way that semiconductors, software applications and digital storage paved the way for distributed computing.”

 

Solar FlexRack Delivers For Grape Grower

Solar FlexRack has delivered its G3L pre-assembled racking systems at Four Star Fruit farm in California’s Central Valley for a 1.27 MW ground-mounted array.

EnPro Solar, the project’s prime engineering, procurement and construction contractor, specified the system to mount 4,160 Trina photovoltaic modules.

EnPro developed the PV solar system for the grape grower as part of a larger energy project that incorporates other technologies, such as LED lighting. The new solar PV system is expected to offset over 60% of the facility’s energy costs, representing an annual $330,000 in savings on its utility bills.

“We had a green light to start the project with permit in hand on Dec. 3 and had to have the entire DC array installed by Dec. 31,” says Gene Okun, EnPro’s solar and generation manager.

Although heavy rains and the holidays made this challenging, he says, the pre-assembled G3L racking system helped them get the array up in less than a month.

 

Array At Fort Huachuca Dedicated

Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and military and federal officials have dedicated a 17.2 MW solar array at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

TEP owns and operates the array, which is hosted by the U.S. Army base and is expected to supply up to 25% of its power.

The array was completed in December 2014. E.ON provided engineering, procurement and construction services. The system is linked to an existing TEP substation, and any excess output flows back into the company’s local grid for use by other customers.

“This system provides Fort Huachuca with a secure source of clean renewable power at no additional cost,” says David G. Hutchens, TEP’s president and CEO. “We worked closely with leaders at the base, the Pentagon and the U.S. Army’s Office of Energy Initiatives to develop a unique solar solution for a very valuable TEP customer.”

TEP says that because it is combining its output with grid resources to serve the base under existing rates, the system helps the Army work toward its goal of deploying 1 GW of renewable energy resources by 2025 without increasing the base’s energy costs.

 

Innotech Solar Supplies Modules For Carport

Germany-based Innotech Solar has supplied 214 kW of its ECOPLUS photovoltaic modules for a new carport solar system at the Jonas Salk Elementary School in San Diego.

The company says the carport will provide shade for the faculty’s cars and reduce the school’s electricity costs by approximately $7,150 per month. The system is expected to generate 39.6 MWh of electricity per year.

Innotech Solar’s PV modules are designed in Germany and manufactured in Sweden. The company says the panels are anti-dumping duty-free, compliant with the Buy American Act for government contracting materials and certified under the U.S.’ 2016 PV fire code. Innotech Solar modules are distributed in the U.S. and other regions by Innotech Solar USA.

 

Conergy To Build 6.6 MW In Ontario

Customers of solar projects under development by Conergy and Envision Cos. have received feed-in tariff (FIT) contract offers for 6.6 MW of capacity for the rooftops of 22 buildings to be built across Ontario.

The projects were approved for participation in the Ontario government’s FIT 3.0 program under the specifications of the Unconstructed Rooftop Solar Program (URSP), which has a total allotment of 15 MW.

The URSP enables developers to apply for FIT rooftop subsidies for buildings that have not yet been built.

 

PSE&G Solar Farms Bring Brownfields To Life

Public Service Enterprise Group (PSE&G) has put two new solar farms on landfills into service as part of the utility’s Solar 4 All program.

The 10.14 MW Parklands solar farm in Bordentown, N.J., and the 11.18 MW Kinsley solar farm in Deptford, N.J., are expected to supply enough grid-connected solar electricity to power about 3,500 average-size homes annually.

These are the two largest centralized solar projects built to date by PSE&G, creating a portfolio of 26 solar farms and 174,000 pole-attached solar units that supply more than 101 MW of electricity.

PSE&G has now built seven of its 26 solar farms on either a landfill or a brownfield site. With the addition of the Parkland and Kinsley projects, PSE&G has used more than 110 acres of landfill and brownfield space to host about 106,000 solar panels, capable of generating more than 31 MW.

“PSE&G is committed to supporting solar development in New Jersey while also maintaining the state’s scarce open space,” says Joe Forline, vice president of customer solutions for PSE&G. “Utilizing landfills like Kinsley and Parklands allows us to provide grid-connected renewable energy to our electric customers, increase the amount of solar generation in the state and also to give new purpose to land that would otherwise have very limited opportunities for development.”

The Parklands Solar Farm hosts 33,402 solar panels on 40 acres of landfill space, while the Kinsley solar farm has 36,841 solar panels on 35 acres of landfill.

Since 2009, PSE&G has invested more than $515 million in its Solar 4 All program. Solar 4 All is a 125 MW program that utilizes rooftops, parking lots, solar farms, utility poles and landfills/brownfields for large-scale, grid-connected solar projects. The Parklands and Kinsley solar farms are the first facilities built as part of the 45 MW extension to the program that was approved in May 2013 by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.