Solar FlexRack provided solutions and engineering expertise to Tucson Electric Power (TEP) for a community solar project in southern Arizona. TEP’s 15 MW Raptor Ridge solar array was commissioned this month at a 100-acre site in Tucson, Arizona.
The project uses Solar FlexRack’s single-axis trackers to support 35,500 bifacial modules, which increase energy production by up to 30 percent compared to monofacial modules.
The new array will supply power for the TEP GoSolar Home program, which provides a renewable energy option for renters and homeowners, including those whose rooftops are shaded by trees or nearby buildings. Participants can buy clean solar energy without installation or equipment maintenance costs.
“We selected Solar FlexRack from many solar racking options because of their engineering expertise and solar tracker architecture with minimal backside shading design, well suited for bifacial modules,” said Jeff Krauss, TEP’s Manager of Community Scale Renewable Resources. “In a challenging market environment where supply chain issues have delayed other large solar projects, Solar FlexRack demonstrated their commitment to customer service by honoring agreements and delivering product on time. We are excited to bring this community-scale solar project online and Solar FlexRack is a big part of TEP’s success at Raptor Ridge.”
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, nearly 50 percent of households and businesses are not able to host rooftop solar systems. For reasons such as this, the U.S. community solar market continues to grow and enable greater access to solar energy, with expectations that it will add more than 4.5 GW of total capacity over the next five years.
“We are pleased to have been selected by Tucson Electric Power to participate in this benchmark project,” said Mike Herman, Director of Operations at Solar FlexRack. “We look forward to providing our engineering expertise and reliable and time-tested trackers in additional impactful community solar projects in 2022 and the years to come.”
