News Article
Suniva Powers Georgia's Largest Solar Canopy For Laredo Bus Facility
Suniva, Inc, has announced that Georgia's largest solar canopy at the Laredo Bus Facility in Decatur, GA will be Powered by Suniva. The 1.2 MW solar canopy is the second largest in the country at a U.S. transit system.
"We're proud of the fact that Suniva's cells and modules, created here in Georgia, are being used to power the solar canopy at the Laredo Bus Facility," said Bryan Ashley, chief marketing officer for Suniva. "The solar canopy is the biggest project of its nature in Georgia, and will generate enough electricity to offset the majority of the facility's annual electricity consumption."
In 2009, MARTA received a $10.8 million federal grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) Program. Thanks to this funding, the project has created new "green-collar" jobs in metro Atlanta and is harnessing clean, renewable solar power to operate the Laredo Bus Facility in a significantly more energy-efficient and cost-effective way. The project features 4,888 PV panels and will generate the same environmental benefit as planting more than 285 acres of trees a year.
"We're thrilled that the solar technology used to build the canopy for the bus facility was born out of Georgia Tech's PV lab. To be able to use home grown technology to power this landmark project is a clear demonstration of the clean energy innovation and leadership found here in Georgia," said MARTA Board Chairman Jim Durrett. "This project will further enhance MARTA's growing sustainability program, which already includes clean fuel buses, water reclamation and harvesting operations and waste recycling programs."
Solar, Inc.has announced cumulative production has reached 5 gigawatts (GW), or 66 million solar modules, capable of generating enough clean electricity to power approximately 2.5 million homes. The company began commercial production in 2002 and has since grown to become one of the world's largest solar module manufacturers, with 36 production lines on three continents.
"This milestone helps advance our mission of providing clean solar electricity at affordable prices. Our ability to scale high-volume production has been a key factor in reducing the cost of renewable energy," said Tymen DeJong, First Solar Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing.
First Solar recently announced that implementing technologies and processes derived from its research and development (R&D) program produced a world-record 17.3 percent efficient cadmium telluride solar cell in July, resulting in average module conversion efficiency of 12.4 percent from its best-performing production lines during the third quarter.
Efficiency gains have also enabled the company to begin production of 87 watt modules, which produce higher amounts of electricity when installed in the field.
Five GW of solar generation displaces 3.3 million metric tons of CO2e annually, the equivalent of taking 650,000 average cars off the road or planting 84 million trees each year.
On a life cycle basis, systems using First Solar modules also have the lowest carbon footprint and fastest energy payback time--the amount of time a system must operate to recover the energy that was required to produce it--of any other photovoltaic technology. This enables systems using First Solar modules to provide the greatest and fastest environmental benefits.