Bloomberg's headquarters in New Jersey now has a 1.8 megawatt (MW) solar system, providing 58% of the electricity for the 100,000-square-foot building.
The ground-mounted solar array covers eight acres and was built by SunPower Corp. (SPWR).
Bloomberg is buying the power generated from the system at below retail rates, providing a long-term hedge against rising power prices with no initial capital investment.
The system is owned by a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Services, Inc., which is also selling the solar renewable energy credits and environmental attributes associated with the project. The system is partially financed through the utility's Solar Loan Program, which offers low-interest loans for solar development.
The system uses high-efficiency SunPower solar panels with the SunPower® T0 Tracker system. The Tracker follows the sun's movement during the day, increasing sunlight capture by up to 25% over conventional fixed-tilt systems, while significantly reducing land use requirements.
"The T0 Tracker delivers more solar energy per square meter and greater energy savings than conventional systems," says Howard Wenger, president of SunPower Regions.
SunPower recently completed the largest rooftop solar array in the US, also in New Jersey, on the largest refrigerated warehouse on the East Coast.
The company recently began commercial production of its most efficient solar cell to date.
SunPower is also building Apple's 40 MW system on 250 acres to run its new data center in North Carolina.
