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Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 30, 2011 — Unirac, Inc., North America’s leading provider of infrastructure for solar power systems, was selected by Consolidated Solar Technologies, Inc. (CST) to supply an ISYS Ground Mount (IGM) mounting solution for a 1.1MW solar installation spanning a five-acre site at Albuquerque Academy. The solar array is the maximum-sized facility allowed under New Mexico utility regulations and was fully funded by companies outside the school. Albuquerque Academy is now the largest solar-powered secondary school in North America.

The array at Albuquerque Academy consists of 5,160 PV modules to produce approximately 2 million kilowatt hours annually, providing one-quarter of the school’s annual electricity usage. The IGM was custom designed to ensure no excess or material waste—of critical importance for a not-for-profit, end-user client. In addition, IGM’s innovative and flexible design, with its ability to prefabricate modules together before loading them to the system, guaranteed an efficient installation rate.

CST’s decision to opt for IGM was closely linked to the company’s previous success with Unirac. “We have worked with Unirac’s design teams in the development of ISYS, and were confident that IGM was right for this project,” said Mike Mattioli, managing member, CST. In addition, CST was pleased to select a racking system from a native New Mexico company, due to the nature of the project. “For us, it was the logical choice,” he added.

“We have an excellent relationship with CST and were happy to help them increase the energy independence of a local school in this manner,” said Unirac CEO Doug May. “Our ability to offer a product with high-quality design and performance as well as economic value was a win-win. We’re thrilled that we could provide CST with a mounting solution for this landmark education installation, which also happens to mark our first project with CST that is larger than 1MW.”

“Since this was a project for a not-for-profit organization, we were especially price conscious—not only for the actual cost of the mounting system, but more importantly for the installed cost,” explained Mattioli. “IGM excelled on these parameters. We were able to keep our installed costs below a threshold that was not achievable with other large-scale solutions that we investigated. Moreover, Unirac’s support staff and design team were very responsive to our needs for design and engineering within a tight time frame and budget.”

Unirac’s dedication to being an industry leader is manifested in its products. ISYS Ground Mount is designed to be an incredibly cost-effective system with the most responsive and scalable supply chain possible. Its groundbreaking installation rate of more than 10 modules per man-hour, components that require zero fabrication, and extreme strength-to-weight ratio make IGM the clear choice for large-scale PV projects.

All photographs courtesy of Consolidated Solar Technologies.