Rosendin Electric, headquartered in San Jose, California, is one of the winners of the PV Project of Distinction Awards from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA).
The award was offered at the PV America West conference for the design and construction of a 5 MW solar power project at Arizona Western College located in Yuma, Arizona. Rosendin Electric has provided engineering, procurement and construction services for the project. The developer of the solar system is PPA Partners and Main Street Power financed the project.
The project comprises five 1 MW facilities that are built across the Arizona Western College’s campus. The sites are installed with poly crystalline solar panels from Suntech, mono crystalline panels from SolarWorld, thin film modules from Sharp Solar, and concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) panels from GreenVolts and SolFocus. The project has also used dual-axis trackers from GreenVolts and SolFocus and single-axis trackers from OSolar that allow constant position alignment of the panels with the sun to maximize electricity generation.
Rosendin Electric has designed the utility-grade solar array to generate sufficient electricity to meet the energy needs of the campus during daytime. The array is anticipated to save $40 million for the Arizona Western College in the next 30 years. In addition, the solar system will serve as a platform for scientists to perform research work and for students to increase their knowledge.