Conergy Completes Seven Solar Energy Systems in California

Conergy does it again: working with four-time partner, Washington Gas Energy Systems Inc., the team has successfully completed the installation of seven solar energy systems in California’s central valley for the City of Corcoran, Calif. This time the partners installed a total of 1.3 MW at local school facilities in a combination of both carport and ground mounted solar energy systems – a special expertise of Conergy. Through this project, Conergy further expands its cooperation with utilities in the USA on projects not financed by the end-user of the clean energy but by a third party.

As EPC, Conergy is responsible for engineering, procurement of product and constructing the system, as well as ongoing operations and maintenance. The long term ownership of the solar plants belongs to Conergy’s partner Washington Gas Energy Systems, with whom the PV solution and service provider has already executed other projects in both California and New Mexico.

City of Corcoran to save on electricity costs through self-consumption
The energy produced by the power plants will be used directly by the schools to avoid increasing energy prices and to stabilize overall costs for the school district. The schools will be using 100% of the generated electricity via a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Washington Gas Energy Systems that has a term of 20 years. The more than 4,400 solar modules will produce more than two million megawatt hours of clean solar power every. That is the same amount of energy sufficient to supply more than 21,000 laptops running eight hours a day for a year. And, the installations are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions equal to recycling around 560 tons of waste instead of sending it to a landfill, or taking more than 312 passenger cars off the road for one year.

Washington Gas Energy Systems supports communities on their way to sustainability
Thanks to the PPAs, institutions such as the City of Corcoran and its schools enjoy electricity prices guaranteed over 20 years that are below the market level for power from the grid. The operators and investors of the plants, for their part, receive a reliable yield over the term of the PPA.

Third party financing and grid parity are the key for growth in the U.S. solar market
“Solar power purchase agreement programs, where consumers pay only for solar kilowatt hours produced instead of making the upfront investment, are becoming mainstream. States with high retail electricity costs and high solar insolation like California and Hawaii have reached or are close to reaching grid parity,” said Anthony Fotopoulos, Conergy Americas, CEO. “Solar power is considerably cheaper today than power from the grid. With a third-party-financed PV system, the end consumers benefit from both: low and stable prices for clean electricity and no large investments in the plant itself.”

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/news/conergy-completes-seven-solar-energy-systems-california/]