Dover Commercial Building
Overview
Looking to increase their property’s revenue, the Dover Commercial Building owners installed a 46.53 kW roof mounted solar system to generate electricity to sell to their tenant through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The ballasted solar system allowed to the building’s owners to utilize otherwise vacant roof area and generate additional income improving their return on investment.
Engineering
The innovative Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) utilized an Aggregated Metering / Community Energy Facility interconnection tariff allowing the solar system to be installed on a new independent electrical service/meter. This progressive interconnection method allows the solar system to operate independently of the tenant’s electrical service/meter and for all of the solar systems generation to be fed to the utility grid and measured by the utility company. The energy (kWh) generated by the solar system is then simply credited to the tenant’s utility account by the utility company and the building owners are compensated directly by the tenant at the current market rate.
Engineered with the lightweight SolarDock ballasted mounting system, the solar system's design required no upgrades to the building’s structural system, required no mechanical attachments to the building in any way, and did not impact the existing EPDM roof’s warranty.
Designed for maximum efficiency and energy yield, the solar system utilizes six individual SMA Sunny Boy inverters providing a more granular maximum power point tracking architecture with less central points of failure.
In order to integrate with the existing diesel backup generator present within the building, the solar system was specially engineered to operate without the building losing any functionality of their existing system. Additionally, the building can perform full load tests of their backup generator equipment, while the solar system will remain online sending all electricity generation to the utility grid for credit. The project features (198) Motech solar modules and one SMA Sunny Tower inverter bank.
Benefits
Without adding a single square foot of tenant space, the Dover Commercial Building owners have increased the value of their property and the income it generates. Over a thirty year life, the solar system is expected to produce over 1.6 million kWh of electricity that can be directly sold to their tenant at current market rates.
Innovative property management strategies such as incorporating solar power have set this property apart from the competition in both its ability to attract tenants and its ability to provide strong returns to its investors. Additionally, the owners can closely track their investment through a web-based monitoring system from anywhere in the world.
Note: The Dover Commercial Building solar project was designed and constructed by Flexera, Inc. under the direction of Mr. Manlove during his tenure with the company. Mr. Manlove is the Professional Engineer of record for the project.
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info@manloveengineering.comCopyright © 2012- Manlove Engineering, LLC. All rights reserved.
Design by Outfit Solutions
Information
Technology:
Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
Sector:
Community/Commercial
Utility:
DEMEC: City of Dover
Interconnection Tariff:
Community Energy Facility
Aggregated Meters
Interconnection Method:
Grid-Tied
City: Dover, DE
County: Kent
Design
Size (kWdc): 46.530
Modules:
(198) Motech Americas
MTPVp-235-M
Inverters:
(1) SMA Sunny Tower ST42
(6) SMA SB7000US
Monitoring:
SMA Sunny WebBox
SMA Sunny Portal
Mounting:
SolarDock Ballasted
Generation
Monthly kWh Production:4,889
Annual kWh Production:
58,664
30 Year kWh Production:
1,661,555
Annual CO2 Offset (lbs.):
89,182
30 Year CO2 Offset (lbs.):
2,525,925