SOLAR TODAY - May 2011

solar installations
Made-in-the-U.S. technology from Suniva helped Standard Solar deliver at $800,000 under budget.

STANDARD SOLAR

The 564-kilowatt PV system on the Terry Sanford Federal Building and Courthouse in Raleigh, N.C., was a first step toward reaching GSA’s net-zero-energy goal.

56 May 2011 SOLAR TODA Y solartoday.org

As the largest owner of buildings in the United;States,;the;General;Services Administration;(GSA);has;considerable influence on national energy demand and;building;practices.;In;fiscal;year;2010,;GSA’s 9,600;owned;and;leased;buildings;racked;up utilities;bills;exceeding;$439;million;and;18. 9 billion Btu. To reduce its carbon footprint and save;taxpayers;millions;of;dollars;annually,;the agency;is;working;to;reach;net-zero-energy;in;its buildings,;pushing;beyond;presidential;executive order;13514.;Solar;energy;is;proving;to;be;one effective path.

In;March;2010,;GSA’s;Region;4,;covering;the
Southeast,;issued;a;request;for;quotations;for;a
rooftop;photovoltaic;(PV);system;for;the;Terry
Sanford Federal Building and Courthouse in
Raleigh,;N.C.;It;was;the;region’s;first;step;toward
reaching;the;net-zero-energy;goal;and;its;first
photovoltaic;project,;said;GSA;Project;Manager
Josh;Lockwood.;The;Terry;Sanford;building;was
an;excellent;site,;with;its;large;new;25-year-war-
ranted roof and good solar access.

Terry Sanford Federal Building
and Courthouse By GINA R. JOHNSON

PV System Highlights

Raleigh’s Climate

Average Solar Resource: 5.0 kilowatt-
hours/square meter/day
Average High/Record Low Temps:

49°F– 88°F ( 9°C– 31°C)/- 6°F (- 21°C)

System Details

Designer and Installer: Standard Solar
Array Capacity: 564 kilowatts (k W)
Annual AC Production: 772 megawatt-
hours
Panels: 2,352 of Suniva’s 235-watt panels
Inverters: Advanced Energy 500-k W
inverter
Array: 14 panels per string but
combiners were different depending
on building location
Array Combiners: SolarBOS
System Monitoring: Locus Energy web-
based monitoring system provides
combiner-level monitoring, revenue-
grade metering, web-based data
reporting and automated alerts.

Commissioned: November 2010

Cost

System design and installation:

$3.2 million

Maximizing System Yield

The;budget;for;the;project;was;$4;million, part;of;the;$5.5;billion;in;American;Recovery and;Reinvestment;Act;(ARRA);funds;GSA;was appropriated for efficiency efforts. According to;GSA;Contracting;Officer;Cathal;Duffy,;the GSA;had;three;criteria;in;selecting;the;winning bid:;a;system;design;for;maximum;electricity generation, a design and installation partner having;experience;with;large-scale;PV;projects, and;price.;Of;five;final;competitive;bids,;Rock-ville, Md.-based Standard Solar was chosen for its;proposal;to;install;a;564-kilowatt;system.