by Shane Henson — July 11, 2011—The U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Denver Federal Center (DFC) campus is nearing the completion of its nearly 7 megawatt solar photovoltaic project, which will be its largest solar installation in the United States.
This project combined with an existing 1.2 MW solar park will provide more than 15 percent of the DFC’s electrical needs annually. The combined capacity of all of the solar arrays is enough to power 1,064 residential homes for one year, and all campus photovoltaic is expected to be online by the end of the year.
In 2007, GSA installed its first six-acre, 1.2 MW solar photovoltaic park that includes 6,192 solar panels at the 624-acre campus in Lakewood. In 2009, GSA received additional funding to add nearly 7 MW more photovoltaic.
In 2009, E Light Wind and Solar Inc./Centerre, a Colorado small-business joint-venture company, was awarded a design/build contract for the installation of the additional solar at the DFC. The solar is being installed in a two-phased approach. The first phase was completed ahead of schedule and brought online Dec. 15, 2010. It included roof replacement and the design and installation of a 3.2 MW solar photovoltaic system. About 14,610 roof-mounted, 224-watt solar panels were installed on buildings 20, 56 and 810. In the final phase, the company is installing 14,352 245-watt solar panels manufactured by SolarWorld as well as products from other U.S. technology manufacturers.
The final phase originally was planned for 3.45 MW but was increased to 3.5 MW. The work includes ground-mount solar arrays visible near the main entrance on Kipling Avenue; ground-mount solar arrays located near Sixth Avenue; and finally, 14 carport structures with solar panels on top at buildings 20, 25, 53, 810 on the DFC campus. The last phase features solar ground-mounting systems from Schletter Inc. in Arizona; carport racking from Tra-Mage in Utah; and photovoltaic inverters from Satcon in California.
