Great Western Flooring (GWF) was the first company in Naperville to undertake the challenge to go green by installing the largest solar plant that the roof of their newly acquired building could accommodate.
WCP Solar was contracted to design and build the roof mounted solar system on top of the roof of their building. This grid connected system ties directly into the Commonwealth Edison Utility’s (ComEd) power grid and generates enough electricity to provide power to more than 150% of the power needs of the facility.
The project was sized at 151.34-kWp, using 644 photovoltaic panels mounted on a flat roof mounting system. The system also employs a 135-kW inverter to convert the 210MW-h of DC energy into AC energy that is used to provide the annual electrical energy needs of the facility.
In addition to providing significant energy savings, the company received a state grant over $200,000 and federal tax credits of over $200,000. The utility company also pays a check to GWF each month that the solar system generates more energy than is used by the facility. Based on the incentives received by the company and the energy savings being experienced, the system was completely paid off with 1.5 years from the date of commissioning.
The project was commissioned within 12 weeks from the issuance of the construction permit while the WCP Solar construction management team oversaw all phases of the construction process, including the day to day operations, weekly subcontractor and Owner meetings, site monitoring, quality assurance and control, and scheduling.
Completed on June 25, 2012, this project was another example of strong design management and project leadership by the WCP Solar team.
