Continuing with our project update blog series, we’d like to share some details about one of Inovateus’ job sites that is well on its way to being the largest solar farm in Michigan and one of the largest utility-owned solar installations east of the Mississippi.
The project received the first of its 10,000-plus racking posts at a ribbon-cutting celebration on April 25. When finished, the solar farm will sit on more than 360 acres in the welcoming town of Lapeer, MI, north of Detroit. Inovateus is managing the engineering and procurement for the 58 MWDC (48 MWAC) solar project, working alongside our construction partners, J. Ranck Electric and Barton Malow. The solar plant will be owned and operated by a Michigan utility company.
The Lapeer installation will feature approximately 180,000 Canadian Solar panels on racking provided by Solar FlexRack, while also incorporating Schneider inverters to perform the power conversion. Once completed, the solar farm will generate 84,000 megawatt-hours annually, enough solar energy to power approximately 11,000 homes throughout the region.
There are many moving parts, bells and whistles to manage during the construction of a large-scale power plant, and not all of them involve the actual installation process. Documentation, permitting, logistics and landscaping are some of the issues that must be dealt with.
Considering the challenges, we’re proud of how our team is making excellent progress. Dozens of truckloads of solar modules have arrived onsite, and we’ve already installed several megawatts and counting. We’re on track to complete the turnkey project by the end of 2016.
Keep your eyes on the Inovateus Solar blog for more project updates, from Lapeer and other sites, in the coming months.
By Peter Rienks, senior sales executive, Inovateus Solar
