President Container Group is one of the largest corrugated box plants in North America. Completed in less than a year, the President Container Group solar array is among the largest privately owned arrays in the state of New York.

GEM聽Energy was chosen as the the design/build contractor for this 2.1 MW ground mount solar array. It will provide approximately聽15% of the company’s annual power requirements. Having the array on the customer side of the utility meter 聽further reduces the company鈥檚 utility rate by using free solar during high demand electricity-use periods such as聽severe winter low temperatures or high heat days. This is known as 鈥榩eak shaving鈥� of demand/capacity charges that聽are added to utility bills.

Some unique features of this project include use of an unbuildable parcel of land as the array site. The topography聽of the site had grades in excess of 20% and was pie-shaped preventing any building expansion from happening in聽this area. GEM Energy utilized sophisticated AGTEK聽software to cost-effectively聽design grades that would work, delivering the highest solar output from the array.

The site has over 3,000 driven piles holding fixed-axis, galvanized racks to cradle the solar panels. Its solar聽panels allow the most solar harvest possible with an extended, power-producing window of time on聽highest output days.

GEM Energy worked with NYSERDA to secure incentive money to help pay for the project and, in the nearby town聽of Wallkill, New York, helped town personnel to establish jurisdictional procedures and processes as this was the first-ever聽solar project in the area.

Over the 25-year array warranty, this solar array will offer a tremendous hedge for President Container against聽rising power rates.

 

...Generating two聽megawatts of energy is an annual savings equivalent to 25 percent of our electric bill

Richard Goldberg, Vice President of Operations
President Container Group

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