Enphase Energy announced today the successful completion of a 125-building distributed solar project developed by Main Street Power Company, Inc. using Enphase Microinverters. The flexibility of Enphase technology in commercial solar allowed the project to be spread across 29 schools and two facilities buildings throughout the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), with individual system designs varying in size and orientation.
“Enphase is proud to have our trusted technology associated with a project dedicated to educating children about alternative energy. Not only will the students learn about their school’s rooftop solar in the classroom, but the school district will benefit from reduced energy costs over the long term,” said Bill Rossi, CMO of Enphase Energy.
Main Street Power has developed a K-12 solar education program to be integrated into the schools’ science curriculum. In its “Train the Trainers” program, Main Street Power will teach science teachers in the 29 schools where solar was installed how to implement this new curriculum focused on renewables and solar energy into their classrooms.
“Despite each building’s unique size and structure, Enphase made it possible to maximize the array size on each rooftop, all using a single technology,” said Eric Hinckley, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Main Street Power. “Also, San Diego Unified School District turned to solar for its environmental impact, but the money saved by the solar arrays will provide more resources for teachers and students – a win-win for the community.”
Leveraging New Market Tax Credits, Main Street Power propagated development in low-income areas, exposing the students and parents of 25 different schools to the benefits of solar energy.
Enphase microinverters allowed Main Street Power and the San Diego Unified School District to rely on one type of inverter technology to support 3.1MW of arrays and more than 125 different systems designed using different angles, orientations and sizes. Where challenging rooftop spaces would have made sizing arrays logistically impossible with traditional inverters, flexible microinverters can be customized to fit both the smallest of arrays as well as megawatt-scale systems. The design diversity of SDUSD’s distributed 3.1MW system exemplifies the flexibility and adaptive nature of Enphase technology.
— Solar Builder magazine
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