This week three projects that groSolar constructed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey received awards, being recognized by industry leading associations for outstanding project results.  The three projects, Longwood Gardens, Keystone Solar, and Camden Solar Center, were completed in 2012 and provide approximately 10 MW of solar capacity. 

Longwood Gardens received both the Diamond Award Certificate in the Water and Storm Water category from the American Council of Engineering Companies’ Pennsylvania Chapter and an Honorable Mention as an Outstanding Project by the Philadelphia Chapter of the PA Society of Professional Engineers.  Longwood Gardens is a 1.5 MW project built at the international tourist destination in Pennsylvania.  groSolar worked closely with Longwood Gardens and Pennoni Engineering to incorporate the solar modules into the natural beauty and landscape of the site.  The main challenges of the project were the storm water management component of the solar modules and maintaining the national topography of the site.  groSolar constructed a rain garden around the modules and meadow grasses were planted to manage the storm water runoff.  The award was accepted by members of the involved partners of Pennoni Engineering, Ecogy Solar who is the owner of the system, and groSolar at a ceremony in Hershey, PA.

During the 2013 PV America East Conference, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) announced that the Keystone Solar Project won one of the three Photovoltaic Project of Distinction Awards.  groSolar constructed the 6 MW Lancaster County, Pennsylvania solar farm on 30 acres without concrete to avoid soil disturbance and allow removal at the end of the project life.  The project was developed by Community Energy in close collaboration with the local farming community and township officials, and will be maintained with selected cover vegetation to preserve and improve organic soil content.

The third project, Camden Solar Center, received an Honorable Mention, also announced by SEIA and SEPA at the PV America East Project of Distinctions Awards ceremony.  The Camden Solar Center is a 1.8 MW solar array built entirely over top of open-water sewage treatment tanks.  The structure spans six acres of open water tanks, and was designed to place solar modules over the tanks with a modified carport racking solution.  As one of the most complex solar systems to date, a case study of the project was highlighted during a panel session presented by Frank Griffin, groSolar’s Executive VP for Engineering and Construction, at the PV America conference.  The Camden Solar Center is owned by Camden Solar Center LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Integrys Energy Services and was nominated by the project’s developer HelioSage.

 “We are honored that these three projects, which were designed and constructed to meet a variety of challenges and objectives at such different types of locations, received awards,” said Jamie Resor, groSolar’s CEO.  “These projects will provide important sources of renewable energy for decades to come, and to receive the recognition from industry leading organizations is very gratifying.  We would like to thank ACEC, PSPE, and PV America for their support and honors, as well as our partners on all of these projects.”