PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Faced with rising energy costs, Rutgers University contracted Conti to construct the nation’s largest solar car canopy on a university campus.

Conti designed and constructed two solar arrays over 32 acres of parking lot for Rutgers University, which at the time of construction was the largest renewable energy system ever built on a college campus in the US, producing 8.8 MW of electricity for the University.

Faced with steadily rising conventional energy costs, Rutgers University turned to solar for a solution. Environmental stewardship is taken seriously at Rutgers, so the University’s Board of Governors decided to outfit its parking lots with one of the largest solar canopy energy systems in the nation.

Conti engineered, procured and constructed the solar photovoltaic system, designed using a Yingli Solar 260-watt Panda monocrystalline, high-efficiency module for greater kWh output, increasing the number Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) earned over the life of the system.

The University financed the project via an arrangement with Key Bank, which is leasing the equipment to Rutgers for 20 years and taking the tax incentives while Rutgers maintains the SRECs. The project will be paid for by a combination of electrical savings and New Jersey SRECs, which can be sold to electric suppliers as a source of revenue to the University. Rutgers University estimates the value of the SRECs and savings in electricity to net $28 million over the 20-year period.