White River Junction, VT (April 10,2012) – Engineering, procurement and construction firm, groSolar, recently flipped the switch on a 229.8 KW solar PV system for the Burlington, Vermont school district. The system was paid for largely in part by grants from Vermont’s Renewable Energy Resource Center and Federal Treasury Grant 1603. The investment will produce enough solar electricity in the first five years of operation to pay for itself and was built through by way of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Burlington schools will purchase the solar electricity generated by the system, but the system itself is owned by third party developer, Encore Redevelopment.

The project occupies two rooftops, including 137.9 KW atop Burlington High School and 91.9 KW atop CP Smith Elementary School. The array on the high school is a fixed-mount array on pitched and flat roofs, using a penetrated and ballasted racking system. The array on the elementary school is solely ballasted. Equipment used includes Sunlink and Unirac solar PV racking systems, SMA string inverters, and poly-silicon solar PV modules from Motech Americas, which are made in Delaware.

This project was a true testament to groSolar’s construction capabilities and ability to stay on schedule and meet strict deadlines. The seven week construction schedule began in early December and crews worked daily through the dead of the New England winter to complete the project on time and within budget.

“Our crews and project management team are the best and most committed in the industry,” said Project Executive Rod Viens, VP of Operations, groSolar. “It’s no surprise the New England winter elements are brutal. I commend our crews for working through those conditions with such positive attitudes. This speaks volumes of groSolar’s employees and subcontractors.”

Both groSolar and Encore Redevelopment are Vermont-based companies. This project also created jobs for nearly a dozen subcontracted employees.