Connecticut’s Largest Solar Power Plant Completed

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Buffalo, NY — Terrasmart, the renewable energy portfolio of Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ: ROCK), announces the completion of Connecticut’s largest utility-solar plant located in Canterbury.

Terrasmart surveyed the site, designed a system to stand up to New England weather conditions, manufactured the racking, and executed the mechanical installation of the 66.5-MWAC fixed-tilt system in just seven months, 75 percent faster than the industry average for a system of this size. Working closely with the project’s partners, Terrasmart quickly converted 270 acres of forest, farmland, and reclaimed gravel mining to renewable energy production. The 150,000-module system — created for one of the country’s largest utilities — uses Terrasmart’s ultra-reliable ground screw foundations and GLIDE racks to withstand frost heave, high snow, and high wind. With the completion of this project, Terrasmart has brought its unparalleled project experience to the installation of 1.1 GWs in the Northeast over just the last two years.

“As the largest solar farm in Connecticut and one of the biggest in all of New England, this project demonstrates our full-scope approach to PV execution,” says Terrasmart President Ed McKiernan. “Our end-to-end solution allowed us to value-engineer and deliver a robust system for the utility in record time.”

Terrasmart self-performed 100 percent of the work, deploying 170 team members seven days per week and 10 hours per day to deliver the project on time. The team worked hand-in-hand with the developer and other stakeholders to compress a 130-week project into less than 33 weeks. Designed with reduced hardware and fewer parts, Terrasmart’s adjustable racking system is 33 percent more efficient than other fixed systems.

“Serving as PM for this project was a huge accomplishment and one of the highlights of my career,” says Richard Van Fleet, director of construction at Terrasmart. “I’m proud of our construction team who did everything possible to compress the timeline and make this project successful.”

As an integrated racking provider, Terrasmart used its proprietary surveying system to accelerate installation and improve accuracy. To safeguard system integrity, in-house geotechnical, mechanical, electrical, and civil experts designed the system to withstand icy New England weather with up to 120 mph winds, 35 psf of snow load, and 27 inches of frost depth. Terrasmart’s high-velocity manufacturing facility streamlines metal treatments, adds precision, and increases production speed. To ensure maximum efficiency, the highly trained crew staggered installation and testing by rows, instead of performing the testing sequentially as is typically done.

For more information on how Terrasmart’s survey-to-glass scope delivers project speed to meet aggressive goals, visit terrasmart.com.

Courtesy of Terrasmart

Featured image courtesy of Terrasmart.