32 — February 24 - March 15, 2012 — Green Buildings — Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
MAREJ G REEN B UILDINGS
Customized Energy Reduction Plans
By Wendy Arienzo, ArrayPower Makingsolarmoreaccessibleto commercial property owners
• MEP/FP engineering including LEED • Building Commissioning including LEED • Energy engineering / audits / energy modeling • NJ Pay For Performance Partner / Carbon Abatement Program partner • PA Act 129 vendor • Federal Energy Tax Incentive partner • Infrared Testing • ASHRAE High Performance Buildings CertiÄed • Building Information Modeling (BIM) • MBE/SBE certiÄcation Contact: Jeff Gilbeaux P: 856-988-1890 Email: info@gilbeauxassociates.com PO Box 782, Voorhees, NJ 08043
T
he commercial and resi- dential building sector consumes 49 percent
mercial-scale solar more af- fordable are of great benefit to the real estate community. The inverter – the compo- nent that converts the DC pow- er produced by the PV module into grid-readyAC power – is a portion of the solar system that can significantly affect system performance and cost. Tradi- tionally, there are three types of inverters: central, string and microinverters. Central and string inverters are most commonly used for commer- cial-scale solar systems, but they are not reliable or efficient at harvesting the energy from the system. Microinverters are muchmore efficient at harvest- ing solar energy, but they are prohibitively expensive for the larger systems that commer- cial buildings use. ArrayPower has developed an inverter technology that addresses this performance- cost nexus, maximizing energy harvest at a price competitive with string inverters. Array- Power partners with solar module manufacturers to in- tegrate each of ArrayPower’s Sequenced Inverters with the PV module during the manu- facturing process in a plug-in format, eliminating danger- ous and difficult wiring and improving system installation and maintenance costs and
safety. This technology allows the Sequenced Inverter to pro- vide the only fully integrated system that delivers commer- cial-grade, three-phase AC power, useable at any commer- cial or industrial facility. Important to building own- ers and tenants, the Sequenced Inverter’s high performance and deep level of integration offer significant lifetime sys- tem cost savings. Specifically, this technology reduces the cost of commercial solar by 35 cents per watt, or more than 10 percent, by lowering capital costs, simplifying installation and increasing energy harvest. By installing systems that use the Sequenced Inverter tech- nology, building owners will be able to offer tenants a cut-rate electricity bill for less capital cost, and building tenants will be able to reap the benefits of distributed solar more easily. It is important that busi- nesses and building own- ers move toward greener, more sustainable business practices, and by offering commercial-scale solar at a more affordable price, the Se- quenced Inverter will play an important part in helping the commercial real estate sector achieve that goal. Wendy Arienzo is CEO of ArrayPower. ■
of all energy produced in the United States, and as a result, many build- ing owners in states like New Jersey and Pennsyl-
WendyArienzo
vania have begun to take advantage of generous federal and state financial incentives to build commercial-scale solar systems to offset some of their electricity costs. These financial incentives, however, are not long-term solutions, and more needs to be done to reduce the non-sub- sidized cost of solar. Though the price of solar has dropped significantly due to decreases in the prices of PV modules, it is important for the solar industry to continue to invest in balance-of-system improve- ments that address the up- front and system lifetime costs of solar. Commercial-scale solar is an important driver of growth in the solar market because it reduces operating and man- agement expenses for building owners and tenants. Thus, technologies that make com-
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