Boeing’s South Carolina plant, which will assemble its 787 Dreamliner airplanes, is shooting for 100% renewable energy with the help of a 2.6 MW rooftop solar system.
This is the first solar system for Boeing. 18,000 thin-film panels will cover the massive roof, equivalent to an area of about 10 acres or eight football fields.
It will be the sixth largest rooftop solar system in the US. South Carolina Electric & Gas will own, install and maintain the system.
The utility will supplement the energy supplied by the solar array with solar electricity from other parts of its system coupled with renewable energy certificates.
The new $750 million assembly plant should be operational in July and is the largest industrial investment in South Carolina history.
Boeing says the 787 Dreamliner, its most popular airplane to date, is manufactured using fewer hazardous materials and designed to consume less fuel because of its lighter-weight materials. It will also be quieter than other airplanes.
Other Solar News:
Another massive solar system is going up at the Vermont Air National Guard base in South Burlington, Vermont.
The 2.2 MW project will cover 12 acres for a cost of $8.5 million. The fixed, ground-based array is being installed by Vermont-based groSolar and six solar trackers, built by Vermont-based All-Earth Renewables, will also be used.
The array, scheduled for completion in October, will supply much of the Guard’s electricity, and any surplus will be sold to the utility, Green Mountain Power Corp.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) helped secure federal funding for the project, which is expected to save about $224,000 in energy costs a year. He said America’s annual reliance on $350 billion in imported fossil fuels makes it critical that the military — one of the nation’s largest consumers of energy — deploy more renewable energy systems.
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