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KYOCERA Solar Selected to Power First Utility-Scale Rooftop Installation in Holyoke, MA
997kW System is Partnership with Healthy Planet Partners for Holyoke Gas & Electric
San Diego – February 9, 2016 – Kyocera Solar, Inc. announced today that it joined forces with Healthy Planet Partners, LLC (HPP), a clean energy solutions fund that finances, implements and maintains energy efficiency projects that optimize performance in commercial buildings, for the first utility-scale rooftop solar installation in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Completed in late 2015, the 997kW system was part of a Power Purchase Agreement between Holyoke Gas & Electric (HG&E) and HPP, and the building owners, Ricar, LLC, which allows the utility to buy the electricity generated by the installation from HPP.
HPP developed and financed the project with partner Kyocera Solar, which provided engineering and project management support and acted as a finance partner, a first for Kyocera in MA. The rooftop installation contains 3,762 Kyocera solar modules on 4 acres on the building and is estimated to produce 1.05GWh of electricity annually, enough for 99 average homes. The solar array will also offset approximately 720 metric tons of CO2 emissions, which is the environmental equivalent of burning more than 775,000 pounds of coal, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
“We’re thrilled Kyocera’s industry-leading, high-efficiency solar modules were selected for this landmark project in Holyoke,” said Brian Cowan, Director of Sales for Kyocera Solar. “We’ve had great success with HPP; this solar installation will help HG&E maintain its low rates and small carbon footprint as well as help reduce the building owners’ costs.”
“This project is a win for the City of Holyoke and hopefully the first of many with the mayor’s announcement of a Renewable Energy Development fund for 2016 that can help leverage the city’s abundant commercial rooftop space ideal for large-scale solar installations,” said Michael Richter, Managing Partner of HPP. “In addition to its proven reliable solar panels, we continue to be impressed with Kyocera’s ability to apply its more than 40 years of industry knowledge to new projects to ensure their success.”
The $2 million project utilizes Kyocera’s KU265-6BCA modules with SMA inverters installed by C-TEC Solar and benefits from a federal tax credit and the SREC program in MA.
About KYOCERA
Kyocera Corporation of Kyoto, Japan, recorded consolidated sales of $12.7 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The company has a 40-year history of innovation in solar energy research, development and manufacturing, with a U.S. customer base served by Kyocera Solar, Inc. of Scottsdale, AZ. Kyocera is the only solar module manufacturer to have earned the highest rating across all six test categories in GTM Research’s PV Module Reliability Scorecard.
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