Solar Optimum is pleased to announce the expedited completion of a new solar energy and storage system for Dependable Hawaiian Express (DHX) and Dependable Global Express (DGX) in Rancho Dominguez, California.
This announcement comes on the heels of an ambitious installation schedule turnaround that saw Solar Optimum’s commercial team deliver the working system by the end of December 2016.
Talks regarding the project began only five months ago, after Dean Sandven, project manager for Tecta America, recommended to the owner that Solar Optimum join them in the project.
“When I was asked by DHX/DGX to partner with a solar company to provide a new roof and solar a system for their Rancho Dominguez property, Solar Optimum immediately came to mind,” said Sandven. “They know how crucial it is to care for their customers’ roofs—a key attribute that proved invaluable when installing the DHX/DGX solar array. During the project, Solar Optimum ensured that their solar rack roof tie-in was coordinated with our Tecta America crew to assure that the new roof was not damaged. The new roof warranty was maintained, and the roof was kept watertight throughout the installation.”
The Solar Optimum commercial development team of Gene Okun and Bill McNeese met with DHX/DGX facilities manager Aaron Faulkner and general operating partner Brad Dechter in August of 2016 to discuss DHX/DGX’s needs for energy cost relief.
After analyzing the energy data, Solar Optimum learned that DHX/DGX also had high demand costs that a “solar only” project could not resolve. As an authorized dealer for LG Chem energy storage systems, Solar Optimum determined that the best return on investment for DHX/DGX was to install a 361-kW solar (1,365 Trina Solar 265-watt panels and 10 SMA 30-kW inverters) and a 60-kW/135-kWh LG Chem stack to provide optimal relief from utility costs.
Among the energy challenges DHX/DGX faced was that uninterrupted operation of their warehouse lighting and IT was critical to their business success. A loss of power would halt the many shipments outgoing during the evening hours — and the company’s IT department needed time to switch to the new secondary servers — so DHX/DGX requested that Solar Optimum design and combine backup power with peak shaving for demand savings.
“We suggested that storage could offer deeper energy savings and perhaps standby power for critical loads,” said director of business development Bill McNeese. “Based on this recommendation, our proposal became a solar/storage project with backup power for their lighting and IT loads.”
DHX/DGX also cited a need to complete the project by December 31, 2016, in order to obtain the 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit. Installation operations began in early November 2016, and the Solar Optimum field installation staff worked through the holidays to complete the system on time for DHX/DGX.
The newly installed system now permanently offsets 89 percent of the 595,000-kw hr. load of the facility from the utility and provides savings of more than $50,000.00 per year to DHX/DGX in addition to providing “Energy Peace of Mind” that DHX’s operations can continue without utility power.
“We understood that DHX/DGX had other very competitive solar-only proposals, yet we were confident in the ability of our team to get the project completed within their time requirements and done with the quality of work we are known for,” said McNeese. “After our experience at DHX/DGX, we are convinced that the future of solar systems will have a storage component for customers who want to reduce the skyrocketing costs associated with demand charges. When reviewing our customers’ utility data, we find that many have demand charges making up over 50 percent of their bill. Storage systems directly address these costs, where solar only cannot. Storage does this by acting as a ‘shock absorber’ for the spikes in utility usage that create these expensive charges and eliminating them from clients ongoing utility costs.”