Jan 28 2011
The Publix-anchored shopping center located in Gainesville, Fla., will sport a rooftop solar power generation facility comprising around 1,500 solar panels.
The installation is proposed to cover an area of 46.000 suare-feet over the rooftop of the Exchange shopping center. The new solar system, which is expected to be functional in the last part of the first quarter of 2011, will generate 350 kW power.
The solar project was originally conceived and formulated by the Real Thing Solar Energy Services and BrightPath Energy and they have sold their stake in the plant to Nautilus Solar. Nautilus Solar being the permanent owner of the solar facility will administer the construction procedures by utilizing the assistance of Inman Solar. Inman Solar in turn will design the system and install it. Stafford Properties, an Atlanta, Georgia-based company owns the 88,000 square foot Publix-anchored shopping center.
Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU), a local power utility company, has agreed to purchase the power generated by the system under its feed-in-tariff program started in 2009. The program will allow the utility company to pay a fixed price for the power generated from the rooftop facility for a period of 20 years without making any investment in the project.