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ecoSolargy Delivers 126 kW Commercial Rooftop System In Diamond Bar, Calif.

Irvine, Calif.-based ecoSolargy has completed a 126 kW rooftop solar array for the headquarters facility of VHA Prepaid Wireless in Diamond Bar, Calif.

Martin Brix, director of commercial PV at ecoSolargy, says the first step in designing the project was to examine VHA’s energy usage data and a few months of electric bills. The analysis encompassed how much electricity was used in 15-minute intervals over a year.

Brix says that such an analysis is particularly important for commercial projects because commercial billing is dependent on when the electricity was consumed. A demand factor is determined by the highest 15-minute usage for the month. All of this information goes into calculating an appropriate size for the PV system.

“We are not necessarily trying to sell the largest system,” Brix says. “We’re trying to find that sweet spot for the customer.”

Southern California Edison’s (SCE) time-of-use tariff has peak pricing for commercial customers at $0.30/kWh from 12 p.m. through 6 a.m. Mid-peak is $0.20/kWh, and off-peak is $0.10/kWh. Brix says part of the system design was to take advantage of the peak pricing. Overproducing in this period enables the customer to get a higher-value credit back from SCE.

Once VHA selected ecoSolargy for the project, Brix says the next step was to perform a site survey to determine what sort of system it could support to help mitigate some of the customer’s costs. The headquarters building has an appropriate flat roof that enabled a south-facing array. There were air-conditioning units in the center of the roof surrounded by a fence that provided some shading concerns; however, Brix says a lack of other obstructions enabled them to lay out neat rows that avoided the shading problem.

Instead of one large inverter for the project, Brix says ecoSolargy elected to go with smaller string inverters from KACO new energy. The advantages for this installation are that a failure of one inverter does not affect the rest of the array and that replacement of inverters requires only a two-person crew. Replacement of a string inverter does not require a crane, so lead times for the job are a lot shorter.

VHA decided to install a white elastomeric coating on the roof. This provided added protection for the roof and made it cooler, which improves PV production. Brix says that from an engineering standpoint, ecoSolargy encourages the use of this type of coating. However, the decision added a couple of months’ delay to the project.

An interesting aspect of the installation is that ecoSolargy is the manufacturer of the Orion solar modules used in the VHA installation. The company started as a manufacturer and has subsequently branched out into distribution and solar systems design.

“It allows us to come in at a strong price without reducing any quality,” Brix says.

The VHA array consists of 504 Orion panels and is expected to produce over 184 MWh of electricity per year. In this case, the customer elected to own the installation outright to be able to take full advantage of the tax benefits.

Brix says ecoSolargy has found that by specifying its own panels for projects it develops, the company is able to reduce the mark-up. He says offering the products directly, with a willingness to stand behind them, has many benefits. The company turns to partners to perform the physical installation.

“Our customers kept asking us for more and more,” Brix says. “We started to bring in partners for racking and inverters. Eventually, we began providing design and engineering services - whatever they wanted.”

 

Borrego Solar Building 10 MW Of Rooftop Solar Under SCE Program

San Diego-based Borrego Solar Systems Inc. has announced that Southern California Edison (SCE) has agreed to buy nearly 10 MW of solar PV capacity from rooftop wholesale distributed generation (WDG) projects that Borrego Solar will build.

SCE has signed five 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) to buy the energy from the projects. Borrego Solar will complete the development of the portfolio and be in charge of engineering, procurement and construction.

The systems, to be located on industrial warehouse buildings in Southern California, are part of SCE’s fourth solicitation under the Solar Photovoltaic Program (SPVP) for independent power producers - a five-year program to procure 125 MW of primarily rooftop PV projects.

These new PPAs will bring Borrego Solar’s total participation in the program to nine projects totaling 17 MW.

The SPVP program is one of the country’s only utility procurement solicitations that specifically target rooftop-sited WDG projects. The program favors siting projects on top of large, industrial warehouses where 1 MW to 5 MW of solar can be installed and the energy generated is sold directly to the utility.

 

GlassPoint Solar To Build 1 GW Solar Thermal Plant In Oman

GlassPoint Solar has contracted with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) to build a 1 GW solar thermal facility for enhanced oil recovery operations in the sultanate.

The Miraah - meaning “mirror” in Arabic - facility will be a trough-based concentrating solar power (CSP) system designed to produce steam used in the recovery of oil locked in rock formations at the Amal oil field in southern Oman. GlassPoint has developed industrial-scale CSP systems with components enclosed in a series of greenhouses to protect them from the harsh elements.

The project will generate an average of 6,000 tons of solar steam daily for oil production. The system will deliver steam to Amal’s existing thermal enhanced oil recovery operations, meeting a sizable portion of the field’s steam demand. The full-scale project will comprise 36 glasshouse modules, built and commissioned in groups of four.

GlassPoint is scheduled to break ground on Miraah this year, with steam generation from the first glasshouse module expected in 2017.

PDO has been working with GlassPoint since 2010 on a pilot project at Amal to test the commercial viability of the technology. The 7 MW solar steam pilot plant will continue to operate at Amal alongside the full-scale development project. Once complete, Miraah is expected to save 5.6 trillion Btus of natural gas each year.

“The use of solar for oil recovery is a long-term strategic solution to develop PDO’s viscous oil portfolio and reduce consumption of valuable natural gas, which is needed elsewhere to diversify Oman’s economy and create economic growth,” says Raoul Restucci, managing director of PDO. “It also will displace diesel and higher carbon-intensive power generation and oil burning in future thermal projects.”

 

sPower Breaks Ground On 45 MW Sandstone Solar Project In Arizona

Salt Lake City-headquartered sPower says construction has begun on its 45 MW Sandstone Solar project in Florence, Ariz.

The facility, through a 21-year power purchase agreement between sPower and public power utility Salt River Project, is scheduled to start delivering energy by the end of the year.

sPower awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract to Swinerton Renewable Energy, which will install more than 182,000 Jinko Solar photovoltaic modules on a tracking system.

When fully operational, the Sandstone Solar facility will produce power for more than 8,000 homes and reduce carbon emissions by more than 88,800 metric tons annually.

The project secured required permits and approvals from the Town of Florence and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act for a Finding of No Significant Impact for the project’s environmental assessment.

 

Sandbar Solar Deploys 250 kW Rooftop System For Skateboard Manufacturer NHS

Sandbar Solar & Electric has installed a 250 kW rooftop solar array for Santa Cruz, Calif.-based skateboard manufacturer NHS.

The system consists of 782 solar modules spanning four buildings of the Seabright Cannery office park. It is expected to offset 86% of the electricity used by NHS offices and manufacturing, as well as Verve Coffee Roasters, which shares the space.

“Everybody at Sandbar Solar was eager to participate in the NHS project,” says Scott Laskey, founder of Sandbar Solar. “We were proud to be selected by such an iconic company to support their leadership and stewardship with an exciting project like this.”

 

Crestmark Finances Three Solar Projects For The State Of Vermont

Michigan-based Crestmark is funding three 500 kW solar electric projects being developed by Alternative Energy Development Group LLC (AEDG) and affiliated company SolarSense LLC, headquartered in Berwyn, Pa., with a combination of sale and leaseback transactions.

Crestmark provided sale-leaseback financing for the solar projects, which will deliver electricity to the state of Vermont through power purchase agreements.

The first project, located at the Vermont Northeast Corrections Complex in St. Johnsbury, closed in the fourth quarter of 2014 for $2 million. The second project, for the state’s correctional facility in Springfield and a state office complex, closed June 30 for $1.7 million. A third project is scheduled to close this month.

All Earth Renewables Inc. partnered with SolarSense on the projects.

“We’re excited about being able to help AEDG and the growing alternative energy industry,” says Larry Pearce, Crestmark’s senior vice president and managing director of corporate joint ventures.

 

Sigora Solar Completes Rooftop PV And Thermal Install On D.C. Building

Waynesboro, Va.-based Sigora Solar has completed a solar energy and thermal hot water project in Washington, D.C., for Nextility, which will own and operate the system.

The project consists of a single closed-loop solar domestic hot water heating system with 74 solar collectors and a 92 kW photovoltaic energy system. Flemington, N.J.-based Rack 10 Solar provided the mounting for the PV element.

To maximize electricity production on the crowded rooftop, Nextility chose a 10° tilt angle for the PV panels with an aggressive 13-inch inter-row spacing. Rack 10 Solar was able to manufacture and supply its Shark Series ballasted racking system with a shortened inter-row spacing in less than four weeks.

Jason Snyder, vice president of Rack 10 Solar, says the racking system did not require any modifications or additional roof stanchions to withstand 120 mph wind speeds and the 115-foot rooftop elevation.

Projects & Contracts

ecoSolargy Delivers 126 kW Commercial Rooftop System In Diamond Bar, Calif.

 

 

 

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