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Largest rooftop solar installation in America

The Gloucester Marine Terminal now boasts 25 acres of 9 MW solar panels on its rooftop.

It’s the largest rooftop solar array in the country. It just opened and couldn’t have been built at a better time.

Panel construction on the roof of the terminal came during a lull in solar power development. Solar power has been hit hard by the economic downturn and the growing supply of cheap natural gas. Recently, three of the biggest solar manufacturers announced large layoffs and cutback production. But as the Holt family, who own the terminal warehouses, learned, the situation is bright for one sector of the solar industry: corporate rooftop solar.

Panels were installed in five months and cost $42 million. For the Holt family, the project was a smart investment.

The solar panels are expected to generate close to 80 percent of the warehouses’ power needs; the Environmental Protection Agency estimates the system will eliminate 9,500 tons of carbon dioxide. Peltzman said the panels will likely save the Holts between $1 million and $1.5 million per year on their energy bills, enough to offset the family’s loans for the project in just a few years.

– source pri.org

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