Solar FlexRackTM announced it has provided dependable, cost-effective solutions and engineering expertise to Tucson Electric Power (TEP) for an innovative community solar project in southern Arizona. TEP's 15 megawatt (MW) Raptor Ridge solar array was commissioned this month at a 100-acre site in Tucson, Arizona. The project utilizes Solar FlexRack's single-axis trackers to support 35,500 bifacial modules, which increase energy production by up to 30 percent compared to monofacial modules.
The new array will supply power for the TEP GoSolar Home program, which provides a renewable energy option for renters and homeowners, including those whose rooftops are shaded by trees or nearby buildings. Participants can buy clean solar energy without installation or equipment maintenance costs.
"We selected Solar FlexRack from many solar racking options because of their engineering expertise and solar tracker architecture with minimal backside shading design, well suited for bifacial modules," said Jeff Krauss, TEP's Manager of Community Scale Renewable Resources. "In a challenging market environment where supply chain issues have delayed other large solar projects, Solar FlexRack demonstrated their commitment to customer service by honoring agreements and delivering product on time. We are excited to bring this community-scale solar project online and Solar FlexRack is a big part of TEP's success at Raptor Ridge."
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, nearly 50 percent of households and businesses are not able to host rooftop solar systems. For reasons such as this, the U.S. community solar market continues to grow and enable greater access to solar energy, with expectations that it will add more than 4.5 GW of total capacity over the next five years.
"We are pleased to have been selected by Tucson Electric Power to participate in this benchmark project," said Mike Herman, Director of Operations at Solar FlexRack. "We look forward to providing our engineering expertise and reliable and time-tested trackers in additional impactful community solar projects in 2022 and the years to come."
About Solar FlexRack
Solar FlexRack, a division of Northern States Metals, is an integrated solar company that offers custom-designed, fixed tilt ground mount and single-axis solar tracking systems in the commercial and utility-scale solar mounting industries. Solar FlexRack also offers full turnkey packages, including engineering, geotechnical, pullout testing, field, layout, and installation services to address the actual site conditions of an installation and provide a full scope of services from design to delivery and installation. Solar FlexRack has completed over 3 GW of solar racking installations in nearly all 50 states across America and five countries globally. For more information, go to solarflexrack.com, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Solar FlexRack Media Contact:
Staci Lombardo
slombardo@solarflexrack.com
330-799-1855
