Parkersburg Recycling Center
During the summer of 2015 Pickering Energy Solutions presented a proposal to the City of Parkersburg to provide solar power to its Recycling Center on 24th Street in Parkersburg. Nick Arnold prepared a presentation for the Public Works Committee which approved the project. Lance McCoy then presented the project to the City Council, which approved it unanimously.
This system, comprising 209 solar panels, will provide approximately 65 kW DC of solar power which will offset a portion of the energy used in the building. We are expecting that this system will provide approximately 37% of the energy used by the facility in an average year. This amount of energy is:
- Enough to power 5 average homes in Parkersburg every year for 25 years.
- Will avoid 60 tons of CO2 being released into the atmosphere every year.
- Will be the equivalent of 50 acres of trees releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.
- Should save the City of Parkersburg’s Recycling Center $ 720. annually in utility costs at current power rates.
- Over its lifetime it will save almost 700 tons of coal or almost 6 train car loads of coal from being burned.
Monitor PV Power Live
Approx. % Power Gen. 30%
The electrical and mechanical design was provided by Pickering Associates of Parkersburg, WV, which included a structural review by Eric Smith, PE, to assure the proper structural loading of the array. The installation was completed by Davis, Pickering and led by Dave Lamp, a Parkersburg electrical foreman.
This system utilizes aluminum rail systems manufactured by IronRidge in Hayward, CA, SolarWorld mono-crystalline 285W solar panels manufactured in Hillsboro, OR, and Enphase M250 microinverters allowing the output of the panels to be optimized.
This system is a grid-tied system, which means that it produces power which is synchronized and blended in with the utility power. This interconnected and ‘distributed’ generation will first power the loads within the building. If the building loads do not require all of the production of the solar system at the time the excess power will be fed back into the utility grid where it can be used by other local power consumers. The power company provides a meter which will register the forward- and reverse power flow and the power use of the building will be reduced by the generated amounts. If more power is produced in a given month the excess power ‘credit’ will be posted forward to offset future power use. The solar photovoltaic power system should provide reliable power for its 25 year lifetime.
We would like to thank Mayors Newell (when the project started) acting Mayor Santer and Mayor Colombo (current), Rickie Yeager, Development Director, and the City Council of the City of Parkersburg for their support through this project. We would especially like to thank Rick Deere and all of the staff at the Parkersburg Recycling Center for their wonderful support throughout this project.
