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Borrego And Greenwood Partner On Landfill Solar Project In Vermont

Borrego Solar has started construction on a 2.7 MW solar project on a landfill site owned by Casella Waste Systems in Coventry, Vt. Casella initiated the project with a successful application under Vermont’s feed-in tariff program. Borrego partnered with Soltage Greenwood, a joint venture between Greenwood Energy and Soltage LLC, to acquire the project from Casella in November 2013.

The finished ground-mount solar facility will sell power to Vermont utilities according to a proportional formula developed by the Vermont Public Service Board for the state’s Sustainably Priced Energy Development program.

The Coventry site features an active landfill - the only one in the state - a capped section and a buffer region. The solar project is proceeding in the buffer zone, located between the landfill and the southern reaches of Lake Memphremagog, which straddles the U.S.-Canadian border. Also on-site is an existing 8 MW gas-to-energy generating facility fueled with methane captured from the active and capped sections of the landfill.

Joseph Harrison, a senior project developer in the Boston office of Borrego Solar, says because the solar array at the Coventry site is being constructed in a buffer area adjacent to the landfill, builders are free to go with a traditional, pile-secured, ground-mount design from RBI Solar. Typically, a solar array on a capped landfill will necessarily be ballasted because no piles can be driven through the membrane. Harrison points out that this requirement adds at least 20% to the cost of the mounting and racking infrastructure.

The racking for the Coventry array will support 9,018 Yingli 300 W panels. SMA is supplying three 720 kW Sunny Central inverters for the project.

According to Harrison, the Coventry project was blessed by several factors, not the least of which was the encouragement of the state. Also, the existence of a biomass plant on the site simplified grid interconnection issues because the infrastructure was already in place. The Coventry solar installation will connect at 34 kV as a wholesale distributed generation project. R

- Michael Puttré

 

Helios Completes Solar
On Michigan Landfill

Michigan-based Helios Solar has deployed a 535.5 kW solar array on a capped landfill in Eaton Rapids, Mich.

The array consists of 2,100 photovoltaic panels on Renusol America’s CS60 ground mounts. Eaton Rapids Solar LLC will own and operate the facility, which is expected to generate 658 MWh of electricity annually for the City of Eaton Rapids’ electrical utility.

Helios CEO Connor Field says the installation was challenging from an engineering perspective, given the terrain and requirements imposed by the landfill.

“Not only was a low-profile, ballasted, non-penetrating mounting system required for the panels, but the ‘cap’ covering the landfill is curved for drainage and not flat, as is the case for typical solar installations,” Field says. “Our challenge was to optimize panel placement on an uneven surface to make the project economically feasible.”

 

290 MW Agua Caliente Solar Plant Completed

NRG Energy Solar and MidAmerican Solar say construction is complete on their 290 MW Agua Caliente solar photovoltaic facility in Arizona. The electricity generated by the station will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

First Solar Inc. designed and constructed the project, which features its thin-film modules. The company will operate and maintain the facility for NRG and MidAmerican Solar. The project received a $967 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office.

Agua Caliente is the largest of 10 operational utility-scale solar PV facilities in three states in which NRG has ownership interest. Agua Caliente is also one of several NRG assets that are subject to a right of first offer agreement between NRG and NRG Yield Inc., its publicly owned subsidiary.

 

Forever 21 Plans 5.1 MW Rooftop Solar Array

Los Angeles-based fashion retailer Forever 21 plans to install a 5.1 MW rooftop solar power system at its headquarters.

PermaCity is designing and installing a system for Forever 21 using SunPower solar panels mounted on its own SolarStrap racking system.

The project is unfolding under the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s feed-in tariff program, qualifying for both the FiT100 Set Pricing and the Solar Incentive programs. The project is expected to be completed by early fall.

 

Dominion Acquires Two Projects In Tennessee

Dominion has acquired two solar energy projects with a combined capacity of 32 MW in Tennessee.

Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Strata Solar is developing the two 16 MW projects - Mulberry Farm and Selmer Farm. Both are expected to enter commercial operation in the fourth quarter of this year. Once the projects are operational, ongoing operations and maintenance will also be handled by Strata Solar.

All power and environmental credits from the solar farms will be purchased by the Tennessee Valley Authority under its renewable standard offer program. Interconnection to the electric grid will take place through facilities owned and operated by Pickwick Electric Cooperative of Selmer, Tenn.

 

Green Energy Completes Projects For Two Colleges

Pennsylvania-based Green Energy Partners has completed two new solar projects - a 2.7 MW installation for Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., and a 672 kW project for Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif.

The ground-mounted solar project at Stonehill College consists of 9,152 solar panels on more than 15 acres across from the main campus. It is expected to generate 3,213 MWh of electricity per year, enough for 20% of the college’s needs.

The solar project at Western University is composed of 2,688 roof-mounted solar panels on three building sites and a carport system. The project is expected to generate 1,110 MWh of electricity annually.

Green Energy Partners developed and coordinated financing for the Western University and Stonehill College projects. The company worked with Solect Energy Development on the latter project.

 

SunEdison To Develop PV For Calif. Schools

SunEdison has signed an agreement to install, monitor and manage a 1.8 MW solar power project for the Rosedale Union School District (RUSD) in Bakersfield, Calif.

Under terms of the agreement, SunEdison will install solar shade canopies in parking lots at the district’s nine schools. The project will include approximately 5,000 Sun-
Edison Silvantis photovoltaic modules. Once operational, the solar systems will be managed by the Sun-Edison Renewable Operation Center.

Scheduled for completion by the end of this year, the project is expected to save the RUSD over $2 million in energy costs over 20 years.

 

ConEdison Unveils Project At Newark Airport

ConEdison Solutions has unveiled a 633 kW solar photovoltaic power installation at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. The system was designed and installed by Borrego Solar.

The project is spread over four sites at the airport and is part of a larger effort by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to deploy solar power. The sites include a 152-panel installation on the roof of an AirTrain Newark electrical substation, a 312-panel project on an AirTrain Newark maintenance building, a 585-panel installation on a Port Authority maintenance building and a 2,145-panel array on a multi-tenant cargo building.

ConEdison will own and operate the solar facility, with the Port Authority taking 100% of the output through a power purchase agreement. The Newark installation covers 62,000 square feet of rooftop space and will supply the airport with approximately 817 MWh of electricity annually, saving about $60,000 per year in electricity costs.

 

110 MW CSP Plant In Chile Greenlit

Spain-based Abengoa has obtained a favorable environmental rating from the authorities of the Chilean Environmental Service to develop a 110 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in the Atacama Desert using molten salts tower technology.

Abengoa says the government review committee unanimously voted to approve the project after evaluating potential environmental effects from the Cerro Dominador CSP plant’s construction and operation.

Cerro Dominador will have a thermal storage system designed and developed by Abengoa. The plant is expected to be the first solar thermal plant for direct electricity production in South America.

 

Energy Systems
Completes 1.3 MW Array

Pennsylvania-based Energy Systems & Installation (ESI) has completed a 1.3 MW solar project for Jones Family Farm in Massey, Md.

The five-acre ground-mounted array consists of 4,638 290-W modules from Upsolar with power optimization systems from Tigo Energy. The array is expected to produce enough power to cover nearly all of the dairy operation’s electricity bill.

According to ESI, the project will yield an internal rate of return of over 17% and have a payoff period of less than six years.

 

Ross Completes Solar Project In Queens

The Ross Solar Group has completed a 327 kW rooftop photovoltaic power project for Ovation In Store Inc. in Queens, N.Y.

The array incorporates 1,000 SunPower solar modules and is expected to generate over 392 MWh of electricity per year, accounting for 100% of Ovation In Store’s power demand from its warehouse and manufacturing facility.

The solar project was supported by a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority under the NY-Sun initiative. R