Jamestown BPU Building Solar Array On Top Of Northwest Arena

The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities will have Solar Liberty construct a 52,000 solar array on the top of the Northwest Arena in downtown Jamestown

The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities will be building a solar array on top of the Northwest Arena.

The BPU Board approved a resolution to have Solar Liberty Energy Systems Inc. to build the 52,000 square foot solar photovoltaic facility for a cost of $1,716,280. The system will be owned by the BPU and is approximately 708Kw in size. The board also approved a lease agreement with Jamestown Center City Development Corporation to pay $2,000 a month for 20 years to house the system on top of the Northwest Arena.

BPU General Manager Kris Sellstrom said a silicone roof coating will be done on the roof before July 4, “Once the roof coating is done, the racks will get installed, and then the panels will get mounted to the racks, the inverters will get mounted to the wall, and that all get plumbed and wired together to a transformer, and we’ll set a meter. And, hopefully, by the end of the summer, it’ll be online”

Sellstrom said the electric generated will go right to the BPU’s distribution system. This will be the third solar array approved for construction, with the second approved by the board in March for Clifton Avenue. Sellstrom said a solar array at Jamestown Community College is 300 Kw, Clifton Avenue’s array is 2Mw, and the Arena will be 708Kw, “2000 kW, even the two megawatt, you know, there’s still 2% of our system load at peak. So it’s still a small contribution, but it’s important in the summer. It lines up well with summer demand, with air conditioning. It’s really hot out, solar does really well to offset that air conditioning. “

Sellstrom said the BPU is still exploring options for handling winter peak generation, which currently uses the natural gas turbine. He said the steam plant is the backup to the gas turbine but with that plant getting difficult to maintain, staff are considering alternate solutions, including fuel cells.