Choice to ship by train secures contract for SolarWorld

Choice to ship by train secures contract for SolarWorldLarge utility-scale solar projects are going up around the globe, and one of the things we don’t often consider when these projects are announced in those fuzzy idealistic dream spaces is where the panels will come from and how they will get to the solar plant site.

But, when a solar plant will be producing megawatts of power, especially megawatts in the double and even triple digits, that’s a lot of solar panels. It’s enough solar photovoltaic modules to cover acres and acres of land.

As a result, small solar manufacturing plants are popping up all of the Southwest United States in order for companies to supply newly approved solar projects on public lands there.

One project in Ontario, however, contracted with Oregon-based SolarWorld to produce its photovoltaic panels for a 33-megawatt solar project.

The Stardale solar PV project in Ontario is one of the bigger ones in the Canadian province that is quickly rising in the ranks of North American regions deploying solar to outshine California.

Enfinity Americas, who is now leading the Stardale project, decided on SolarWorld as its PV panel supplier for the major project not because it’s close—it’s practically on the opposite coast—but because there is a secure and eco-friendly way to transport the 144,060 panels, said Rafael Dobrzynski in a SolarWorld press release.

The panels are being taken by truck, each one with about 540 solar panels totaling roughly 3.75 megawatts, to the port of Portland’s intermodal facility, said SolarWorld spokesman Ben Santarris.

There, they are loaded onto trains that will carry the solar panels to Ontario.

“It’s just great to be able to transport these panels in an environmentally responsible way,” Santarris said.

With this many panels traveling the width of North America, the train transport prevents huge amounts of carbon emissions that would have otherwise been expelled into the atmosphere by the 10 or so semi trucks that would have hauled the panels if not for the rails, Santarris said.

“A truly green manufacturer not only produces clean products but also minimizes the impact of its production,” SolarWorld Americas president Kevin Kilkelly was quoted in the release. “Our manufacturing in North America reflects that commitment.”

Image courtesy of FreeFoto.com.