Meridian Solar has partnered with DV & Associates, a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Business, to develop and construct a 322-kW solar-electric system at the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks (VHSO) in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The installation is comprised of three solar carports which will provide shading to 102 parking spaces for veterans receiving services.
Meridian Solar and DV & Associates were responsible for the design, engineering, construction, and project management of the carport system consisting of 1,320 solar modules. While the installation is the first of its kind on the VHSO campus, the Department of Veterans Affairs is no stranger to solar energy. The 322-kW solar carport system will join a long list of solar projects implemented across the country on other VA Hospital campuses.
The VHSO in Fayetteville, which opened its doors in 1934, is contributing to a goal set by the Department of Veterans Affairs: to increase renewable energy consumption to 20% by 2020. The investment of a solar carport will assist in reaching that goal, as the VHSO campus will now save an average of 440,000 kWh each year. This energy production amounts to 570,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emission savings, an equivalent of planting 10,000 trees.
Meridian Solar’s President and Founder, Andrew McCalla, comments, “We are proud to have worked with DV & Associates and the VHSO in Fayetteville. Through the implementation of distributed generation, a technology that offsets utility cost obligations, we are freeing up capital for the service unit’s core mission of helping veterans receive the best health care possible.”
— Solar Builder magazine
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