Nov 20 2013
Trinity Solar has recently completed a 12.3 megawatt residential solar installation at United Communities LLC, the private manager of the military multifamily community at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, bringing renewable power to the privatized housing community on base occupied by over 2,100 military families.
Tom Pollock, Matt Haydinger, and Anita Moore cut the ribbon on the solar electric system at United Communities, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst while dedicating the community center Robert M. Moore. (PRNewsFoto/Trinity Solar)
The system represents one of the largest solar-powered military communities in the country. Generating an estimated 13.7 million kilowatt hours of clean, affordable electricity every year, the system is projected to account for over 30 percent of the community's annual energy usage.
"Completing this project, installing over 10,000 solar modules on over 650 roof-tops and connecting them to compile 12.3 Megawatts of solar in just over eight months has been challenging but incredibly rewarding. Working with so many diverse entities to complete a common monumental goal has been a great experience," commented Bill Condit, VP of Operations for Trinity Solar.
Jeffrey T. Brown of the installation's equity provider True Green Capital Management commented, "We are proud to provide independently produced clean energy to U.S. military families through our Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst solar system. This is a strategic investment for our firm that reinforces the important role solar energy will play in our domestic energy mix in the coming years. We are grateful for the collaboration among stakeholders that made successful execution of this system possible, including our lender CIT, United Communities, the U.S. Air Force and Trinity Solar."
Additionally, the installation will be able to help the Department of Defense – the largest energy consumer in the country – meet major sustainability goals. The electric capacity of this new system will help the DoD reach its goals of deploying three gigawatts of renewable energy on military installations and obtaining 25 percent of its total power requirements from independent renewable sources by 2025.
The construction of the project employed over 120 engineering, electrical and maintenance workers, and helped add to New Jersey's solar electric capacity, which currently ranks second in the U.S. According the Environmental Protection Agency, the system's estimated annual production of 13.7 million kilowatt hours of clean, sustainable power offsets in excess of 1 million gallons of gasoline or approximately 22 million barrels of foreign crude oil each year.
Senior lender CIT Bank and solar crowd funding platform, Mosaic, provided project debt for the installation, while the equity was provided by installation owner True Green Capital Management LLC.
Press release avilable from http://www.prnewswire.com/