MCE Solar One, Bay Area’s largest publicly owned solar project, now complete

Project not pictured. Just a lovely shot of a bridge in Richmond, Calif.

Built on an old refinery, MCE Solar One is a new 60-acre, 10.5 MW ground mount solar farm in Richmond, Calif., brought to life by Cenergy Power and sPower.

The project deployed approximately 80,000 ground mounted modules using both a fixed tilt rack as well as single axis trackers, with RPCS supplying and installing the Array Technologies DuraTrack HZ v3 tracker for the SAT portion. Pre-development costs were covered in part by customers participating in MCE’s Deep Green 100 percentrenewable energy service. Once completed, MCE Solar One will generate renewable energy to power 3,417 homes per year.

MCE and the city of Richmond also committed to a 50 percent local hire requirement to build MCE Solar One, guaranteeing local benefits through clean energy job creation. In supporting this local hire requirement, MCE created over 300 jobs by partnering with RichmondBUILD, a program that focuses on developing skill in the high growth, high wage construction and renewable energy sectors. Eighty percent of graduates from RichmondBUILD’s programs are placed into well-paying jobs. MCE will train and hire skilled graduates of the RichmondBuild program as employees for the project.

Report by TÜV Rheinland explains how Array Technologies trackers drive O&M costs down 37 percent

“It’s great seeing an old refinery convert its property to a solar project. Overcoming site-specific environmental and property challenges on this site is proof that more of these projects are going to keep happening. It was a pleasure supporting MCE, sPower, and our long-term partners at Cenergy while providing opportunities for local workers through RichmondBUILD,” said RPCS Chief Sales Officer Alex Smith. “This project is a real achievement for everyone involved and a success for lots of people on lots of different levels. We’re very happy to have helped support MCE Solar One and to congratulate MCE, sPower, and Cenergy Power.”

Together, MCE, sPower, Cenergy, and RPCS are working toward increasing the use of renewable energy resources in an effort to help the state reach its greenhouse gas reduction goals, all while creating local jobs and clean power.

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/news/mce-solar-one-bay-areas-largest-publicly-owned-solar-project-now-complete/]