by Rebecca Walker — May 25, 2009—ERS, Inc., a progressive energy engineering consulting firm based in Massachusetts, is currently working with Steinway & Sons to install what is believed to be the largest solar-sourced industrial heating/cooling system in the world at the renowned piano maker’s 11-acre manufacturing complex in Long Island City, New York.
ERS conceived the design and approached Steinway with the project. The system works by collecting the sun’s rays with 38 rooftop solar concentrating troughs that reflect and focus the energy onto receiver tubes through which a thermal fluid circulates.
Once the liquid reaches 340 degrees Fahrenheit, the system pumps it to a high performance 100-ton double-effect absorption chiller that uses the superheated water to develop a chilled water supply through a highly specialized process.
“You don’t see many renewable projects targeted at the industrial sector,” says Mark D’Antonio, Vice President of ERS. “However this type of system makes huge sense when you can utilize the solar energy year-round. Steinway has seasonal loads for both heating and cooling/dehumidification, and they always have process loads.”
For more information, see the ERS, Inc. Web site.
