News Article
Satcon Selected By Constellation Energy For 65 MW Of PV Projects
Includes 25 MW Project and One of the Largest Rooftop Solar Installations in North America
Satcon Technology Corporation, has announced that it has been selected by Constellation Energy for 65 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic power projects across the United States.
The installations feature a variety of different panel technologies (thin film, polycrystalline) and array types (ground mount, rooftop) and will utilize Satcon inverters.
The largest of these solar power projects is for an aggregate 25 MW of ground mounted PV power plants located near Sacramento, California. These advanced utility-scale facilities feature twenty-five Satcon PowerGate Plus 1 MW inverters. Constellation Energy will own and operate the systems and sell the electricity generated from them to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) under ten, 20-year power purchase agreements. Belectric, Inc. is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project which is anticipated to be commercially operational by the end of 2011.
In addition to the Sacramento installations, Satcon has also been selected for a 5 MW rooftop system, which, when complete, will be one of the largest rooftop PV installations in North America. The system will use thirteen Satcon PowerGate Plus 500 kW inverters and is expected to generate approximately 6,362 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity each year.
The remaining Constellation Energy systems will use Satcon PowerGate Plus 500 kW or Equinox 500 kW inverters, part of Satcon's industry leading portfolio of utility-scale power conversion solutions with over 2 gigawatts (GW) sold worldwide, the world's most widely deployed large-scale solar solutions.
"We believe that system design should always be based on customer needs and the requirements of the site," said Ron Melchior, Vice President of Renewable Energy for Constellation Energy's retail business. "Satcon's technology and ability to tailor each power conversion solution to each installation made them the logical choice for these solar power projects."
"These 65 megawatts of solar power installations across the U.S. demonstrate the strong growth we are seeing in the North American utility-scale solar power market," said Steve Rhoades, Satcon's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to working closely with Constellation now and in the future to drive further penetration of utility-scale solar power in North America."
