Rutland, VT and White River Junction, VT – August 27, 2014 – Construction is now underway on groSolar’s newest project in Vermont—Stafford Hill Solar Farm—an innovative and first of its kind solar PV plus battery storage project being designed and constructed for Green Mountain Power (GMP).  The solar farm covers approximately ten acres of land on the former Rutland City landfill and will provide 2.5MW of energy capacity for the utility’s grid.  The project consists of 7,722 Suniva panels, racking provided by Patriot Solar, and four central Dynapower inverter stations.  The system will provide enough energy to power 2,000 homes.

In addition to supplying the utility’s grid with energy, the unique and important project will also provide a source of electricity to the adjacent emergency shelter at Rutland High School in cases of power outages and extreme weather.  This is accomplished via each of the inverter stations that incorporate battery storage and synchronized controls which permit on demand integration with the utility grid.  The system also incorporates a voltage regulation system which will maintain voltage to the grid and allows for “islanding” the energy to be used in emergency situations.  In these situations, the battery backup microgrid system will be able to disconnect from the grid and provide up to 4MWh of stored energy to the shelter.  This innovative system will be the first of its kind to provide this source of energy security for the community without the need to rely on other energy sources and the transmission system.

Distinctively, this one of a kind project is being designed and built in a Vermont community by local Vermont companies and contractors.  groSolar was founded in 1998 in Strafford, Vermont and now has its headquarters in White River Junction and an office in Rutland City.  The site work subcontractor is Mosher Excavating of Killington, inverters were custom designed by Dynapower of Burlington, the electrical subcontractor is CDP Electric of Rutland, and fencing is provided by Middlebury Fence of New Haven.  The project site is a closed capped landfill, and this project will repurpose the property and provide a clean, renewable energy for the community.

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