Case study: How DCE Solar’s Cap-Rack System helped a 4.9-MW multi-site project

Overview

As the first of five landfill sites in the Meriden, Connecticut area planned for conversion to a solar field, excellent results in terms of budget, performance and environmental safety were a must.

Greenskies Renewable Energy knew that there could be no compromise on quality or compliance with procedures for capping the existing landfill space and installing the array of 3,672 panels.

The Solution

DCE Solar’s Cap-Rack System was designed specifically for landfill sites. The innovative design allowed Greenskies to minimize the weight while maintaining the required load through the system’s unique high friction ground coefficient with the incorporated ribbed ballast tray.

Because of the Cap-Rack’s preassembled design, the assembly cost was minimum in a high labor market further improving the project’s ROI.

The Results

Due to the cost efficiencies and successful installation on the first Meriden landfill site, Greenskies has an easily repeatable process for its other target sites. When completed, all five array sites combined will produce 4.9 MW of clean energy.

Economies of scale were made possible by being able to obtain racking systems appropriate for all sites at the same time. Unlike pour in place ballasted systems, Cap-Rack’s precast ballast block method is easier to install and does not require costly clean up of concrete slurry.

With nearly 4,000 solar panels being used on this first site alone, the yield is enough to power nearly 150 homes. When all five installations are complete, that number should triple to just under 500 homes.

For more information, head to the DCE Solar website.

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/news/dce-solars-cap-rack-system/]