Henry Dykema of Sundance Solar Systems, a SunWize dealer located in Red Lodge, Montana, installed a unique solar energy system at the Silver Bow Village, a HUD low-income apartment complex in Butte, Montana. The system will produce approximately 5,000 kWh of energy each month, saving money for both the apartment complex’s development company and its residents.
Silver Bow Village features multiple buildings located around a central parking lot. Each of the 60 residential units has its own electrical meter, although the total facility’s utility bill is currently paid by the owner. GMD Development Company of Seattle, WA in partnership with Homeword of Missoula, MT recently purchased the complex and decided to renovate it in the hopes of reducing energy costs. In addition to the solar energy installation, units were updated with additional insulation and Energy Star™ appliances.
“We decided to install solar systems at the Silver Bow for several reasons. First, the availability of energy tax credits, housing tax credits and local utility grants, reduced the upfront cost of the system significantly. In addition, the ongoing electrical savings can also be leveraged for the increased supportable debt for the property. Aside from the pure economic reasons, these systems are a source of renewable and sustainable energy and are consistent with our company’s goal of providing sustainable housing. Lastly, the onsite generation reduces the future exposure of the property to energy price increase” said Greg Dunfield, GMD’s principle partner.
Henry Dykema, owner and operator of Sundance Solar Systems, an independent solar-PV installation Company, received the contract for the 40kW PV installation in October. The installation presented Dykema with some challenges that he was able to effectively answer with the help of UNIRAC®, an industry-leading provider of technology and product solutions designed to meet the needs of virtually any solar installation. “I’ve used UNIRAC for years, and I’ve gained a lot of experience using UNIRAC products,” Dykema said. “I keep a significant amount of UNIRAC product in my warehouse, it makes sense for me to use it on my projects whenever possible. However, accessibility isn’t the primary reason I use UNIRAC. I use it because it provides the flexibility I need, particularly on a project like Silver Bow Village.”
Because of the multiple buildings at Silver Bow each with unique and varying rooflines, angles, and venting, Dykema had to build a customized mounting system on multiple roofs using UNIRAC’s SOLARMOUNT™ universal photovoltaic (PV) rail mounting system. “With SOLARMOUNT, it was easy to build a customized mounting system for the array and all the necessary grounding equipment,” Dykema said. “The hardware I used to install it was an easy fit with UNIRAC’s materials.”
While it’s common to replace a building’s roof during a solar installation, this Silver Bow Village building’s roof consisted of asphalt shingles that were in good condition, making replacement unnecessary. However, installing a solar array on an existing roof requires care to ensure that the roof is not compromised. Taking this into account, Dykema included UNIRAC’s Flat Flashing when designing the customized SOLARMOUNT system. “The flat flashing helps ensure that any holes we drill to attach the solar array to the roof will not leak after installation,” Dykema explained. “We ran the SOLARMOUNT rails over Unirac’s ‘L-feet’ which are lagged through the flashing which further protects against moisture intrusion.”
The system is comprised of 158 Samsung 255-watt monocrystalline modules, 2 Fronius 11.5 kW, 1 Fronius 7.5 kW, and 3 Fronius 3 kW inverters. As a multi-unit apartment complex, Silver Bow Village doesn’t operate on a single meter; thus, the system had to be designed to decrease the energy load on a common area of the complex—in this case, a laundry room as well as three individual apartments.
Under the Montana net-metering law “NorthWestern Energy gives customers credit against their usage through a meter capable of calculating energy flow in two directions” Dykema explained. “This credit continues month to month but does not accumulate after a year”. The separate apartment units don’t use enough energy to warrant designing the system to run through one of them—Silver Bow Village would have lost most of their energy credits at the beginning of each year. Therefore, Dykema designed one 32 kW subsystem that feeds the meter within the south building’s laundry room which has a large electric load due to the laundry facility, and three 3 kW systems that each feed an individual apartment.
Dykema estimates the system will provide Silver Bow Village with approximately 5,000 kW per month, which translates to a savings of roughly $500 in energy per month or $6,000 per year based on Northwestern Energy’s current rates. “While our residents may not see those particular energy savings directly reflected in their individual electric bills, Silver Bow Village is able to lower energy expenses incurred by the apartment complex as a whole,” Dunfield said.
Because Silver Bow Village is a HUD facility designated for low-income families and individuals, Dykema was also able to help Homeword and GMD Development obtain incentives through the Universal Systems Benefits program of Northwestern Energy that could be applied to the total system cost.
“Once you add the utility and tax incentives, the payback on the system becomes very reasonable,” Dykema said. “The UNIRAC mounting system, the inverter and the modules should last for quite some time, making it possible for the property owners and residents to enjoy the benefits of renewable energy for many years to come in addition to reducing energy related CO2 in the atmosphere. As an added bonus, NorthWestern Energy may receive renewable energy credits from the clean energy produced by Silver Bow’s installation helping it comply with the Montana Renewable Energy Standard (RES). This project really demonstrates the wide-reaching, positive effects that a sustainable energy system can provide.”
SunWize has designed and managed installation projects of various types and sizes. Many of these projects have been in remote or difficult locations, and under extreme conditions. Due to the various environments, SunWize works with trusted brands that best fit the needs of the project. The 120 kW photovoltaic system, at the Zion National Park Service Maintenance Complex in Death Valley, CA was completed in 2011. To combat the extreme temperatures during the day, SunWize Project Managers implemented a construction plan that included night shifts for worker’s health and safety. There are four separate roof mounted system installed which consists of a 61.8 kW array at the Maintenance Building; a 21.5 kW system at the Administration Building; a 7.39 kW array at the International Building, and a 29.7 kW array at the Curatorial Building. The Sharp 224 watt modules were attached to the sub-arrays using the ProSolar RoofTrac rails attached to S-5! CorruBrackets. The system is connected to Fronius inverters and is monitored by SolarMagic. SunWize project managers chose the Fronius inverters for a number of reasons. First, it was the most cost effective given the electrical scope. Second, the project called for multiple orientations and the Fronius inverters were the best one for the job. Finally, using a brand with over 50 years of experience left the SunWize project manager at ease. SunWize was the prime contractor for this installation; providing the total turnkey system solution.
