Hayesville, NC, December 13, 2011 – ESA Renewables (ESA), a leading turnkey solar solutions provider, today announced it has begun construction on a 1.3 MW commercial rooftop solar project in the city of New Bern in Craven County, North Carolina. This project is one of the largest rooftop photovoltaic (PV) arrays in eastern North Carolina, and will help bring clean, renewable solar energy to New Bern residents. Having executed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Progress Energy ESA expects the PV array to be completed in December of this year.According to the terms of the contract, ESA will build, operate, maintain the system and additionally install its proprietary monitoring system to monitor operation of the array for the 20-year term of the PPA contract. ESA will sell the entire energy output from the system to Progress Energy which will distribute solar energy to its customers in the area.
"ESA is delighted to take a leading role in the adoption of solar power in New Bern," said Jeffrey Burkett, president of ESA Renewables. "Renewable energy projects such as this rooftop solar array boost economic development, create jobs and have a positive impact on our environment."
Over the next few weeks, ESA will complete the installation of 5,376 Canadian Solar modules, which produce 235 watts (W) each and will cover 175,122 square feet of rooftop space on the building’s rooftop. This project is expected to produce 1,691,639 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year, enough clean renewable energy to power approximately 200 homes each year.”This is an exciting project and a landmark installation in a region that hasn’t traditionally been thought of as a prime solar energy market,” said Alan King, general manager of Canadian Solar USA. “ESA Renewables is actively driving and enabling major solar projects across the country that demonstrates the value and viability of solar, and we’re proud ESA has selected our modules to help bring more than a million kilowatt hours of clean energy to North Carolina.”
The inverters ESA selected for the project are Advanced Energy (AE) PV Powered 260kW commercial inverters. “We continue to be impressed by ESA’s leadership in bringing solar energy onto our nation’s electric grid with impactful projects like this,” said Steve Levy, VP of Sales and Marketing for AE Solar Energy. “AE is pleased to be a partner in this project, and we look forward to collaborating with ESA on future solar projects.”
About ESA Renewables, LLC
ESA Renewables has positioned itself as a leader in the industry providing turnkey solar PV systems globally. ESA owns and operates a diverse portfolio of over 475 solar PV power generating facilities located in the United States, Puerto Rico, Spain and Italy. ESA’s scope of services includes financing, engineering, construction, testing and operation and maintenance. With headquarters in Castellon Spain, ESA has additional offices in Florida, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, France and Italy. For more information about ESA Renewables, LLC, please visit http://www.esarenewables.com or call 407-268-6455.About Advanced Energy (Nasdaq:AEIS)
Advanced Energy is a global leader in innovative power and control technologies for high-growth, thin-film manufacturing and solar-power generation. Founded in 1981, Advanced Energy is headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, with dedicated support and service locations around the world. For more information, go to www.advanced-energy.com.
About Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ)
Canadian Solar Inc. is one of the world's largest solar companies. As a leading vertically integrated provider of ingots, wafers, solar cells, solar modules and other solar applications, Canadian Solar designs, manufactures and delivers solar products and solar system solutions for on-grid and off-grid use to customers worldwide. With operations in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, Canadian Solar provides premium quality, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly solar solutions to support global, sustainable development. For more information, visit www.canadiansolar.com.
3 comments:
It is important to point out that using the data in this article, this solar project installation which is quotes as 1.3 MWe has an annual Capacity Factor of 0.148. That is it produces only 14.8% of the peak capacity of 1.3 MW.
So it takes only 213 MWe of nuclear or coal generated power. or any alternate mode operating at 90% capacity factor as do nuclear and most coal base load stations.
Bottom line: the 1.3 MW [1,300 kilowatt-hours of generation per hour] put out the same power as nuclear or coal electric generation of 213 MW [213 kilowatt-hours per hour]. Without mentioning Capacity Factor of solar which is based on peak generating capacity, the promoters and developers of solar electric are misleading the public as to benefits and costs of solar electric. A MW is not a MW. Based on this project figures it takes 6.1 MW of solar generation [at 14.8% CF] to equal 1 MW of nuclear generation at 90% CF. So the costs of this solar project have to be multiplied by 6.1 to do an apples to apples comparison of the cost of solar vs. nuclear for example.
PLEASE POST THE FOLLOWING VERSION OF MY COMMENT SENT A BIT EARLIER, CORRECTING A TYPO:
It is important to point out that using the data in this article, this solar project installation which is quoted as 1.3 MWe has an annual Capacity Factor of 0.148. That is it produces only 14.8% of the peak capacity of 1.3 MW.
So it takes only 0.213 MWe of nuclear or coal generated power. or any alternate mode operating at 90% capacity factor as do nuclear and most coal base load stations to equal the annual output of this 1
Bottom line: the 1.3 MW [1,300 kilowatt-hours of generation per hour] put out the same power as nuclear or coal electric generation of 0.213 MW [213 kilowatt-hours per hour]. Without mentioning Capacity Factor of solar which is based on peak generating capacity, the promoters and developers of solar electric are misleading the public as to benefits and costs of solar electric. A MW is not a MW. Based on this project figures it takes 6.1 MW of solar generation [at 14.8% CF] to equal 1 MW of nuclear generation at 90% CF. So the costs of this solar project have to be multiplied by 6.1 to do an apples to apples comparison of the cost of solar vs. nuclear for example.
However, it should be noted also that the energy genegration curve for solar generation generally aligns quite nicely with peak demand electricity curve in most areas meaning that the energy produced by a solar installation is generally more valuable.
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