While the 3.6-megawatt ground-mounted solar installation Mercury Solar Systems completed in Manalapan earlier this week is one of the largest in New Jersey, it’s just the beginning for the rapidly growing business.

“We started off as a small company in New York,” said Mercury president Jared Haines.

But that didn’t last long. Since three businessmen with unique skill sets in engineering, marketing, construction and business development formed the company in 2006 it has skyrocketed.

Mercury acquired offices in Long Island and New Jersey and now has locations all along the East Coast.

The 3.6-megawatt project adjacent to a future 500,000 square foot shopping mall in Manalapan, N.J., was only Mercury’s second utility-scale solar installation. It just completed its first in January. But it’s a huge growth segment of Mercury’s business.

“In 2012, we expect about 40 percent of our revenue to come from utility-scale projects,” Haines said.

The company has some projects contracted and is working to nail down nearly 250 megawatts of solar projects in its pipeline, Haines said.

“There are just a lot more utility-scale projects out there to choose from now,” Haines said.

Mercury is getting most of its utility-scale inquiries in New Jersey, Massachusetts and the Caribbean, including some early stage projects in Puerto Rico.

“Of course, there could be projects in Ghana and Suadi Arabia,” Haines said. “You never know where it’s going to go.”

The recently completed New Jersey project is indicative of what some of Mercury’s future projects might look like. NJR Clean Energy Ventures owns the system, and Spano Partners Holdings developed the $17.2 million project on land it owned that was originally slated for an additional shopping center.

Rather than develop that land for retail in a tough economy, Haines said, Spano opted to develop it for solar.

That’s becoming an increasingly popular play for developers who recognize their land, especially in this economy, can generate more revenue as a power plant than it can as a strip mall, Haines said.

“We are starting to get some people coming to us,” Haines said.

As developers are looking for alternative ways to get their money out of land investments and as Mercury’s reputation grows, relationships and projects like the one in Manalapan will likely become more common for Mercury.