Bermuda’s first large scale solar farm ;MPP WIRH YT XS SJ '*1(4ƶW XSXEP GETEGMX] XS XLI KVMH ocated on a 19-acre piece of land known locally as “The Finger” — a small peninsula at right angles to the airport runway that was formerly a munitions pier for the US Navy — the 6 MW solar power project on St. David’s Island is all but completed. This is an entirely separate project to the new airport terminal, and the solar power generated will not offset the airport’s energy use. Rather, it will be delivered into the national grid under a 20-year contract with BELCO. The 6 MW that the solar farm will generate represents about 4% of BELCO’s total capacity of around 80 MW. “Saturn Power develops and builds utility-scale or large-scale solar projects,” says Larry Henry, project manager for Canadian-based Saturn Power, who developed the plant. “This project for Bermuda on a 19-acre site will generate 6 MW from 24,150 individual solar panels.”
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“This installation is what we call ‘a fixed rack.’ The panels are oriented so that they point south, and they’re mounted on a steel racking system that holds them at about a 15 degree tilt. We’ve calculated that as the optimum angle to catch the maximum sun,” explains Henry. “The foundation system for this racking we call direct-drive pile. We drive straight steel piles 9 feet into the ground, which creates the foundation and anchor system. There are 40 piles. Then above that is galvanised steel racking bolted together. There are 120 rows of racking, and then all of the modules, or panels, are mounted to that steel racking system. “The racking is designed for a 144-mph wind – it’s been designed to withstand a category-four hurricane. We have concerns about the environment, the salt, and the humidity, so our racking system has had extra galvanising treatment. “There was no special treatment for the surface – we’ve driven the piles right
through the old asphalt surface. It wasn’t removed. We hope and believe that will lend itself to minimising some of the site maintenance long-term.” The local installation and commissioning company is Noesis Energy Solutions. It is responsible for all the high-voltage equipment and underground cabling as well as laying a
BUILDINGBERMUDA2021
