McClellan PV System Installation Provides Key Lessons

摘要

BDM provided the primary engineering effort required to complete the design, specification, procurement, installation and checkout of a 40 kW photovoltaic system for McClellan Air Force Base in California. This power system provides all of the energy required to run a small market in the Capehart Military Housing facility at McClellan. Excess power is provided to the surrounding homes by feeding the energy back on the local utility grid. The project has been designated at the Air Force Showcase in the area of photovoltaic energy systems. The program was a small business set aside with Uhl and Lopez Engineers, Inc., as the prime contractor supported by the BDM staff. Uhl and Lopez is a small business electrical engineering consulting firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The photovoltaic array consists of 1142 ARCO photovoltaic panels configured in a fixed tilt non-tracking orientation. The dc power generated by these modules is inverted to alternating current by a 45 kW Helionetics inverter. The system has demonstrated performance consistent with BDM engineering estimates and design projections show that in excess of 57,000 MWh/year of electrical energy will be generated by the array. (ERA citation 09:030523)