As an engineering, construction, manufacturing and clean energy company, Faith Technologies Inc. (FTI) developed the solar installation on its Kansas facility’s roof in-house.
FTI built the 2.16 MW project by having its team — including apprentices from its apprenticeship program work in two crews: one on the roof building the arrays and the other inside the facility building the skids for its inverters and distribution equipment.
The project uses 4,320 VSUN solar modules, 30 roof-mounted SMA inverters and Unirac racking, FTI told pv magazine USA.
Image: Faith Technologies Incorporated
The Olathe facility, which is the largest of FTI’s five facilities, assembles modular electrical buildings for use in hyperscale data centers. The modular buildings are self-contained electrical units that are designed to quickly be deployed into datacenters.
FTI said the installation will be completed by the end of the month, and it should finish the electrical work in May.
The project complied with UL 3741, which gave them a “streamlined and cost-effective approach” to meeting the National Electric Code’s 690.12, Rapid Shutdown of PV Systems on Buildings, FTI said. Unlike traditional methods that rely on module-level rapid shutdown devices (MLRSDs), FTI said, UL 3741 allows for array-level solutions, reducing material and labor costs while enhancing system reliability. This simplifies installation and maintenance, decreases failure risks and optimizes system efficiency, “making it an ideal solution for large-scale commercial and industrial applications,” the EPC said.
FTI designed the rooftop solar installation in such a way that will allow its employees to access the area so they can better understand how solar installations work. FTI said this will “provide valuable learning opportunities for both new and existing employees looking to enter the renewable energy industry.”
“We’re not only reducing our own carbon footprint but also demonstrating the real-world application of these sustainable energy concepts at an industrial scale,” Cole Morrison, assistant project manager at FTI said.
FTI also put 10,500 solar panels on its newly expanded headquarters for its manufacturing division, Excellerate, in Little Chute, Wisc. The installation will generate 4.83 MWh of clean energy annually, which the company said is enough to help offset the facility’s energy use and, at times, contribute excess power back to the grid. FTI’s Appleton, Wisc. also generates clean energy for its operations, with a 4.8 MW rooftop solar installation.
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