Nov 24 2010
A celebration for activating a 1.1 MW solar deployment at Madera City’s waste water treatment unit was carried out. This was attended by Madera City’s officials, including the Mayor, Gary Svanda, along with representatives from SunEdison, an innovative solar energy services supplier and REC Solar, a leader in the field of solar electric systems.
This solar system is one of the major units in California requiring no initial costs for installation, and is projected to fulfill 62% of the energy requirements for the facility.
This project was a joint effort by SunEdison and REC Solar, where REC Solar handled the designing and construction of the solar system, while SunEdison would invest, operate and uphold or sustain the power plant, as per a power purchase agreement (PPA) between the two firms. The City would acquire the energy produced for satisfying the demands from the grid at fixed rates for a period of twenty years. The facility extends over nine acres of land, and REC Solar’s system uses avant-garde dual-axis system trackers along with the company’s solar panels to permit the panels to track the sun all through the day. This would boost the output by 35% in comparison to the conventional ground mounting system.
According to the Mayor, this was important for Madera, as the key goal of a responsible government was to discover newer and better methods to decrease the expenses for taxpayers, while at the same time decreasing the carbon footprint for the future generations’ benefit. Keith Helmuth, an engineer in Madera City who supervised the project commented that the city would definitely reap rewards from this venture by accomplishing reduced electricity costs for the next two decades.
REC Solar CEO, Angiolo Laviziano, remarked that his company was happy to have contributed to the design and planning of such a huge and technically complex project in Madera City. SunEdison’s Vice President, Jaime A. Smith revealed that his company’s experience and knowledge since its inception in 2004, has made solar solutions a tangible affordable reality for customers such as the City of Madera.
Source: http://www.sunedison.com