Landfill Solar:How to Mount on Moving

Ground and Take PartIn a Growing Trend

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Q&A at the end of the presentation

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Before We Start

Steven Bushong

Solar Power World

Moderator Presenters

Andrew Barron Worden

GameChange Racking

Steve RaederSunEdison

Mark GiesPanelClaw

Solar Power World Landfill Solar Development Webinar 03/27/14

Presenter:

Andrew Barron Worden – CEO & Founder, GameChange Racking

GameChange Landfill Experience

About GameChange Racking

GameChange Racking LLC designs and manufactures innovative solar racking systems which combine fast installation, quality, and unbeatable value for ground, rooftop and carport applications

Municipal Solid Waste Landfill 1.2 MW, GC Ballasted Paver System

Hartford CT

DuPont Superfund Site 500 KW GC Ballasted Paver System

Northern DE

Delaware Peninsula Brownfield Site 2 MW, GC Paver Ballasted System

Wilmington DE

Typical Landfill Diagram

Clay Bottom :LayerLeachate Containment Layer

Trash Layer

HPDE Geomembrane LayerSand Layer

Soil LayerVegetative CoverVents

• Repurposing: creating value from valueless land

• Regulatory incentives for developers such as higher SRECs in Massachusetts

• Municipalities eager to pursue projects with developers since they receive revenues from leasing landfills

Landfill Solar Development Opportunities

Installed GameChange ground mount system

Landfill Solar Challenges:

Topography

• Flat landfill caps optimal for cost effective installation

• Steep slopes on edges of landfill present installation and maintenance challenges and are often excluded from layout design

GameChange Pour-in-Place™ 6.24 MW system, Brimfield MA

Landfill Solar Challenges:

Settlement Issues• Type of landfill must be taken into

consideration (contaminated soil/coal ash which compacts well vs. Municipal Solid Waste which often has settlement issues)

• Age of landfill and date of capping• Gas generation; decomposition causes gas

release, which results in the cap dropping• Racking with robust rails essential for

protecting panels from damage resulting from settlement

Robust GameChange rails essential for protecting panels form settlement issues

Landfill Solar Challenges:

Cap Weight Limitations• Typically for membrane caps 7 PSI max

allowed for temporary loads and 3.5 PSI for permanent loads

• Higher loads typically allowed for brownfields

• Large ballast required for racks• Use of tracked vehicles for installation• Lay down area needs to be off the cap Elephant trunk on bobcat for concrete pouring on

sensitive landfill caps or for small inter-row spacing

Landfill Solar Challenges:

Vegetation

• Grass is often required • Racking must have a high ground

clearance to allow for vegetation maintenance

• Vegetation must be restored at completion of installation for cosmetics and stabilization

24 to 36 inch ground clearance under GameChange racks enables easy vegetation maintenance

Landfill Solar Challenges:

Stormwater Management• Swales and ponds must be installed and

maintained as required by local regulators

• Vegetation or other stabilization must be installed and maintained as required by local regulators

• Inverter pad and access roads cause stormwater diversion which needs to be factored into design

Installed GameChange ground mount system

Landfill Solar Challenges:

Operations & Maintenance• Both the solar system owner and the landlord for

the landfill have obligations for operations and maintenance

• Solar system owner needs to constantly monitor array for any settlement damages to membrane and ensure it falls within acceptable design parameters for the racking and other system components

• Any settlement of cap resulting in racking beginning to settle must be rectified immediately by elevating sinking foundations or making other adjustments

• Vegetation and storm water management maintenance

GameChange Paver Ballasted Ground System: high ground clearance for easy maintenance

Landfill Solar Challenges:

Regulatory Requirements• Municipal projects typically require long RFP

process and competitive pricing • State environmental authorities typically require

closure permits allowing for solar• Local and other permits required such as concom,

building department, electrical• Landfills often require highly qualified, typically

prevailing wage labor at higher labor rates• Some landfills have multiple interested parties in

addition to landlord such as previous operators (such as waste management company that may want to do additional dumping in landfill and need to be coordinated with going forward)

GameChange Pour-in-Place™ 6.24 MW system, Brimfield MA

Landfill Solar Challenges:

Project Economics• Landfill solar systems cost $.50/w more than

typical ground mount systems• Higher cost mostly due to over ground cable trays,

racking and installing a more labor-intensive system

• Overall system cost for landfills must drop from current typical level of $3/w to $2/w to enable superior economics for developers

• Fast installing racking system key to controlling typically prevailing wage labor costs

• Racking system cost must be $.20/w vs. $.35/w currently

Save on system and install costs by using GameChange ground mount systems which pour concrete on site vs. expensive precast

We Said:

Let’s Make PV Racking Simple

Less Parts, Less Cost, Faster Install

And Then We Did It …

Specifically for Landfill Ballasted Ground Applications:

We realized we had to utilize cost-effective locally-sourced concrete or pavers to reduce cost

We realized that installation had to be twice as fast as with current offerings

GameChange Racking Mission Statement

• Self leveling technology: 68% faster install than precast

• Large ballast footprint reduces landfill cap loading

• Fast top down panel attachment to aluminum rails using t-bolts into slots and top mount clamps

• Leave-behind patent-pending recycled HMWPE plastic Pour-in-Place™ forms

• Wind Tunnel tested• Available in both 1 and 2 panels up

portrait

Excellence in Product Innovation:

GC Pour-in-Place™ Ballasted Ground System

1. Place racking supports into Pour-in- PlaceTM forms

2. Aluminum rails simply bolt onto supports, enable 7” vertical adjustability

3. Integrated wire management tray on robust rails

4. Panels rapidly mount using T-bolts and top mount clamps

• Large ballast footprint reduces landfill cap loading

• Standard inexpensive 74 pound pavers stack on ballast trays

• Fast top down panel attachment to aluminum rails using t-bolts into slots and top mount clamps

• Tilt adjustability when mounting tubes to pans to accommodate uneven ground

• Wind tunnel tested

Excellence in Product Innovation:

GC Paver Ballasted Ground System

3. Integrated wire management tray on robust rails

4. Panels rapidly mount using T-bolts and top mount

1. Standard pavers placed on tray 2. Aluminum rails mount quickly

Get on board with GameChange Racking Let’s change the game for solar

www.gamechangeracking.com

tyz@gamechangeracking.com 212-359-0205

Mounting System Flexibility

REQUIRED FOR SOLAR ON

LANDFILLS

TitleBallasted

Adjustable

Water flow

Load distributionAccess

Tilt angles

PanelClaw Panda Bear® Ground Mount System

Settlement and Compressive Strength

• Difficult to predict

• Localized

• Several feet

• Impacts structural integrity and energy generation

Differential (Localized) Settlement

*Geosyntec 2011 Report

Best practicesConsider mounting systems that can respond to differential settlement occurrences

Minimize weight (distributed loads)

Allow for raising or lowering of the array height

Flexible and strategic array placement

Slope and Stability

Challenges• Domed caps

• Water flow and erosion control

• Impacts to energy production

• Sliding and downward forces

Slope and Stability

Slopes and Domed Caps

Slope and Stability

Slopes and Domed Caps

Slope and Stability

Best practicesSelection of tilt angles

Component-to-component adjustability

Non rail-based systems

Distributed load

Know your limits – Perform interface friction testing

Slope and Stability

Caps and what’s below?

Challenges

• Obstacles

• Underground objects

• Cap liners (cannot penetrate)

• Weight restrictions

Caps and what’s below?

Best practices

Single module layout flexibility

Ballast-only foundation

Distributed weight

Caps and what’s below?

Construction

Challenges• Road access

• Heavy equipment

Construction

Best practices

Design flexibility

Minimal ground prep

Minimize heavy equipment

Ready to install: No on-site metal cutting or drilling, pre-assembled components

Construction

TitleBallasted

Adjustable

Water flow

Load distributionAccess

Tilt angles

PanelClaw Panda Bear® Ground Mount System

Thank You

Solar Power World Webinar March 27, 2014

Landfills = Optimal Host Sites for PV

Development

• Transforms liability into revenue stream (high level of public acceptance)

• Limited development options (PV = “best & highest” use)• Often located near existing distribution infrastructure• Often located near population density (i.e. load)• Most landfill caps have portion of acreage w/ minimal grade (i.e.

under 3%)• Job creation • Ideal in market with VNM / RNM programs• More than 11,000 sites comprising more than 15 million acres

across the US *

*EPA Feb. 2013 “Best Practices for Siting Solar Photovoltaics on Municipal Solid Waste Landfills”

Landfill Development not without Challenges

• Environmental Permitting: Post Closure Use Permit, EPA Storm Water Permit, National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) in addition to numerous state level permits.

• Liability: increased insurance requirements (e.g. pollution), enhanced developer indemnification sought (based on work plan); cap penetration

• Settlement: ideal sites have been capped for 10 or more years

• Design Standards: storm water mgmt (flow of storm water over cap); vegetation cover (prevent erosion); ballasted racking preferable; cap penetration concerns paramount

• Financing: tax equity = conservative. However, TE plays a lesser role in new financing structures allowing for increased risk tolerance.

Landfill PV – Basic Design

Clay Bottom :LayerLeachate Containment Layer

Trash Layer

HPDE Geomembrane Layer Sand LayerSoil Layer

Vegetative CoverVents

• The Sullivan’s Ledge Solar Project is a 1.75 MWDC solar photovoltaic (“PV”) project in New Bedford, MA located on a former CERCLIS-listed (Superfund), city-owned landfill.

• SunEd and its partner, BlueWave Capital, are reclaiming the Brownfield site for renewable energy production and helping New Bedford realize nearly $3 million in energy savings over contractual term. 1.75 MWDC PV SYSTEM AT SULLIVAN’S LEDGE REMEDIATED

BROWNFIELD

Source: www.neeinc.com 

Case Study: Sullivan’s Ledge Superfund Site

Case Study: Fresh Kills • SunEd partnered with NYC to build 8 MWac (45 acres) across two distinct

sites – “Arthur Kills” and the “East” site (capped landfill)• FK = largest brownfield to parkland conversion in US• 2,220 contiguous acres located in NY’s load zone “J”• COD target early 2016• Arduous Public Approvals process: CEQR, ULURP, PCMMO etc.

Fresh Kills cont…• Net Metering Credits to be sold to orgs located within the 5 boroughs

(electricity savings)• Approx. 14,259,000 kWh produced per annum • Approx. $3mm in NMC’s generated per annum (*based on today’s NMC

tariff rate)• Parkland will surround site

Questions?Steven BushongSolar Power Worldsbushong@wtwhmedia.comPhone: 440.234.4531Twitter: @WTWH_Renewables

Steve RaederSunEdisonsraeder@sunedison.comPhone: 443.909.7200

Mark GiesPanelClawmgies@panelclaw.comTwitter: @PanelClaw

Andrew Barron WordenGameChange Rackingabw@gamechangeracking.com

This webinar will be available at www.solarpowerworldonline.com & email

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