One of the most galvanizing 2020 APsystems project entries arrived courtesy of The Next Solar Energy Technology, and it took the APsystems honors for commercial winner in 2020. With an astonishingly prescient sense of timing, the Kenner, Louisiana-based solar power company transformed a solar array into a symbol of restored freedom in the Deep South.

Next Solar Energy was contacted by Liberty Self Storage, a multi-site business in Louisiana, about taking on the conversion project for one of their locations. Liberty Self Storage had dedicated itself to green energy in 2016, commissioning solar conversion for the first 9 of their 12 stores in St. Tammany Parish, but wanted to do something different for this location.

Next Solar Energy’s design arranged the solar panel array into an American flag. In trading string inverters for 64 APsystems microinverters in the project design, they created one of the most energy-efficient locations in the Liberty chain, and helped Liberty take the prize as one of the most progressive mid-sized companies in the South.

Learn more about other 2020 project winners here.

Alternative energy refueling stations are multiplying across North America and Europe. In a way, each is a symbol of ecological relevance in and of itself.

But eco-relevance is good business sense, and it’s now emerging at traditional gas stations, too. Last autumn, as Wawa, Inc. pledged to double the number Tesla Supercharger installations in their network of stores, they also pledged to make 93 of their stations in New Jersey solar powered businesses.

This representative Wawa store in Toms River, New Jersey, is the winner of APsystems’ 2019 Commercial Award for integrating solar power into the context of day-to-day trade and transaction. This gasoline island uses 90 APsystems QS1 micro-inverters for its array of 360 modules in SolareAmerica’s installation, delivering the 108 kilowatts that provide power for a significant portion of the business.

The decision of Wawa, Inc. to take this considerable step toward decreasing their corporate carbon footprint makes each of these 93 stations a symbol of broad-spectrum acceptance of alternative energy. Their decision to use talented and capable solar installers SolareAmerica for these projects is also a brilliant move. We congratulate them for their forward-thinking business acumen.

In the past five years, residential solar has found mainstream acceptance; developers of alternative energy-based communities are blossoming, and driving solar energy into a vibrant new phase as 2020 begins. The Walk—a residential community on Bainbridge Island, in Washington State—is a case study that deftly illustrates this trend, and its outlook as we enter this new decade.

The inverter installations designed for the townhomes of The Walk are the work of Washington State’s Cascadia Solar, a division of Frederickson Electric that develops custom solar energy solutions for homes and businesses in the greater Olympic Peninsula region. The firm used APsystems’ QS1 and YC600 micro-inverters for the project, installing them discreetly on roofs, awnings and vertical end-walls.

We congratulate Cascadia Solar on their inventive design sensibilities, and for their role in establishing mass residential solar—and the first Living Building Zero Energy registered community—on Bainbridge Island.

APsystems congratulates installers Swiss Solar Tech Ltd. and Okanagan Solar Ltd., both of British Columbia, Canada, as winners of our annual Project of the Year Awards.

Swiss Solar Tech Ltd. is honored in the Commercial category for the Poplar Grove Winery/Vanilla Pod Restaurant project in BC’s Okanagan Valley. The project creatively showcases APsystems YC1000 true 3-phase microinverters as a visual design element in the 46.36 kW array, creating a solar-shaded outdoor restaurant patio.

Okanagan Solar Ltd. is honored in the Residential category for the Carrington View Apartments installation in West Kelowna, BC. The 225 kW project uses APsystems YC1000-3 microinverters to create an ambitious three-building, 240-unit solar-powered complex, demonstrating the vitality and growth of multifamily solar.

 

APsystems thanks all installers and customers who participated in the 2018 Project of the Year Awards contest.

Read more about the Swiss Solar Tech commercial installation here.

Read more about the Okanagan Sola residential project here.

As single-family residential solar booms across North America, multi-family projects are catching on as a vibrant market segment for developers and installers alike. 

A developer in West Kelowna, British Columbia, is leading the trend, now completing its eighth multi-family residential solar project in just a short time with installer Okanagan Solar Ltd.

Their newest showcase: the Carrington View Apartments, an ambitious three-building, 240-unit solar-powered complex.

For demonstrating the vitality of multifamily solar, Carrington View by Okanagan Solar, Ltd., earns an APsystems Project of the Year Award in the Residential category.

Robert Monteith of Okanagan Solar Ltd. credited “trust and training” received from distributor National Solar and the APsystems technical and sales team for choosing APsystems microinverters for the project. The rooftop arrays use the APsystems YC1000 3-phase units.

“After our first APsystems install, we really liked the product for performance and ease of install,” Monteith said. “I have APsystems YC500s installed on my own home.”

Before the install, Monteith took APsystems microinverters and related components to the local electrical inspection branch for their review. He also invited them to an install at the nearby St. Hubertus Winery, where code-compliance inspectors tested the rapid-shutdown capability of the APsystems utility-interactive inverters.

Inspectors came away suitably impressed with the APsystems safety features, not least the fact that the microinverters went to low-voltage AC right at the solar panel. 

“Since that encounter our licensed electricians rarely see them come for an inspection as they know there is nothing to see that they are worried about,” Monteith said. “Having credibility with the electrical inspection branch is an advantage in our business.”

At Carrington View, rooftop modules are arrayed in a crisscross pattern to fit amongst structural elements. Each array feeds the house “common area” panel, Monteith said, “so the common area power costs nothing for the owner to operate once completed.”

Notwithstanding its scale, Monteith said the install went without a hitch; technical challenges were resolved ahead of time with good planning and communication with the entire consultant team.

The APsystems technical support team made a site visit during planning and offered suggestions to make the install run smoothly.

There’s more to come – Okanagan Solar Ltd. will install 1.5mW of solar for this same client in 2019. The builder has embraced renewables, Monteith said, and will soon complete the first net-zero residential building in the province.

What is the most rewarding aspect of the Carrington View project? 

“Being able to showcase and demonstrate that we do not have to burn coal, dam rivers or build nuclear power plants to generate significant power at a cost per kilowatt-hour that is less than what the utility charges is great,” Monteith said, “because ‘deniers’ cannot argue with it.”  

Installer: Okanagan Solar Ltd.
Project name: Carrington View Apartments
Location: West Kelowna, BC
Total system capacity: 225kW (75kW/building over 3 buildings)
Microinverters: APsystems YC1000 3-phase
Total number of microinverters used: 204
Brand/wattage of modules: Canadian Solar 270W Mono all-black