We say it every year: When it comes to solar projects, we are all winners.
We already announced the winners of our 2016 Project of the Year vote, but we at Solar Builder liked a bunch of the other submissions too. Welcome to the first in our series of Editor’s Choice winners! These are projects that
didn’t garner the most votes from readers but we felt were still pretty darn cool too.
Editor’s Choice: Solving Space Limitations
Town of Stafford
Challenges: Building this PV system on a rocky, steep terrain required special drillers just to install the piles. Some boulders pulled out were bigger than a pickup truck. Developer Standard Solar did a formal study and used innovative smart inverter capabilities to integrate to the grid according to ES’s requirements. The landfill part of the project was unique in that all electrical wiring/conduit and racking foundations had to remain above grade so as to not penetrate or disturb the cap layer. Standard had to run the inverter output feeders in conduit down a very steep (approximately 40 percent grade) section of the cap in order to reach the equipment pad. Innovation: This is one of the first virtual net metered projects approved in Connecticut, and it offsets 100 percent of the town’s load, making the whole town net zero. It supports mostly schools and other community loads.
Location: Stafford, Conn.
Size: 3.45 MW
Developer: Standard Solar
Contractor: Electrical Contractors and Maine Drilling and Blasting
Modules: Hyundai Heavy Industries
Inverters: Chint Power Systems
Mounting: GameChange Solar and DCE Solar
Cedar Falls Utilities “Simple Solar” Initiative
Cedar Falls Utilities (CFU) launched its “Simple Solar” community initiative to meet a growing demand for clean energy, while offering flexibility around participation in the project. CFU gave its customers the opportunity to pre-subscribe for the solar energy by making an upfront payment. These payments gave customers access to a portion of the energy that the array will produce — an amount by which their energy bills will be reduced — and the more customers who participated, the lower their cost to participate. This approach proved demand and interest among customers, drove the size of array built and created a mechanism where a customer could apply their energy savings to another home if they decide to move. Interest drove the solar unit price from $399 to $270. This became the largest community solar project in the state.
Location: Cedar Falls, Iowa
Size: 1.987 MW
Developer: RER Energy
Contractor: SunLink PowerCare
Modules: Hanwha
Inverters: Yaskawa-Solectria
Mounting: SunLink
— Solar Builder magazine
[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/featured/2016-project-year-editors-choice-community-spirit/]
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