Solar Installation At Wastewater Plant

May Be The First Of Three

By John Voket

First Selectman Pat Llodra and Public Works Director Fred Hurley are both hailing the completion of a bidding process that will provide the first of possibly three new and large-scale solar-powered electrical generating stations.

Shelton and Toronto-based OPEL Solar International Inc, a leading developer and supplier of ground-based and rooftop solar tracker systems and high concentration photovoltaic solar panels, announced May 3 that the company will provide a 95 kilowatt (kW) turnkey solar photovoltaic or PV installation for the community’s wastewater treatment facility.

As a result of a local decision to use OPEL Solar’s advanced tracking technology, Newtown is receiving a grant of $325,000, covering a portion of the cost of the installation from a competitive bid grant awarded by the State’s Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF). This award showcases this solar installation as contributing to the state’s clean energy advancement and is an example of the benefit of solar energy for other municipalities.

Mrs Llodra said Newtown’s evaluation process was greatly simplified by OPEL Solar offering the lowest cost option, the best energy production, and the most advanced solar technology of all the bids received for this installation.

“This is a leading-edge project for Newtown in our continuing efforts to move our town toward greener options and reduced reliance on fossil fuels,” Mrs Llodra added.

According to a release, the Newtown installation will include OPEL Solar’s most technologically advanced single-axis trackers and US-manufactured PV panels from Grape Solar, Inc. The use of single axis trackers results in higher energy production for each PV panel, which provides a significantly lower cost per kWh than conventional fixed-panel solar systems.

For the Newtown facility, the OPEL Solar tracker system increases the project’s energy production approximately 28 percent.

Leon M. Pierhal, CEO of OPEL Solar, said the local installation serves to validate the company’s decision to pursue the municipal market.

“It pleases OPEL to know that the TF800 trackers contributed positively to the town’s receipt of this significant grant award from the State of Connecticut,” Mr Pierhal continued. “We believe the increased energy output from our trackers provides a great match to other facilities similar to Newtown’s waste water treatment plant.”

The unique design of the tracker product line allows it to be matched with any type of solar panel technology, providing greater efficiency and a competitive edge for panel vendors and as well greater layout flexibility for integrators and engineering firms.

Mr Hurley confirmed that the ease of installation, combined with the tracking components, will permit maximum power return at a site with minimal to no disturbance of trees and other natural landscaping features adjacent to the wastewater plant.

“The open area where the installation is sited is in an open field, so it reduces the need for perimeter preservation,” Mr Hurley told The Bee. “Few if no trees will be affected, the analysis was done with all trees in place.”

Mr Hurley said the high return panels combined with the trackers maximize the percentage of sun captured.

“The high efficiency aspect also qualified the town for more state underwriting benefits,” he said. “Since the state takes technical data and bases the grant award on the total project’s potential power generation, Newtown got more in the grant than was originally requested in the application.”

When completed, the facility is expected to supply about 30 percent of the power used annually — although Mr Hurley said that generation capacity will vary during certain parts of the year.

“On an yearly basis, we can be pretty specific; annually we will save between 130,000 and 140,000 kW hours, reducing our electric bill by about $20,000 per year.”

Now the town turns its attention to qualifying for additional grants for slightly different solar projects for Reed and the middle schools.

“The CCEF grant program reopens July 1 and Newtown is planning to do whatever is required to qualify for the next round of grants,” Mr Hurley said, adding that appropriate audits and the RFP for solicitation of a vendor must be completed.

Since the application for the next round of grants is due by November, there is sufficient time for the town to complete qualifying criteria. Mr Hurley said preliminary engineering will determine the roof load capacity and how the installation will match the panels with the electrical load in the building.

With operations in Shelton and head office in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the company, through OPEL, Inc, designs, manufactures, and markets high-concentration photovoltaic panels and dual- and single-axis trackers for related CPV and PV systems for energy applications worldwide.

The company, through ODIS Inc, a US company, designs III-V semiconductor devices for military, industrial, and commercial applications, including infrared sensor arrays and ultra-low-power random access memory. Learn more at www.opelinc.com.