Kingston, New York-based
SunWize Commercial Power Systems, the installation arm of SunWize Technologies, recently announced the acquisition of $7.8 million more in solar power contracts awarded by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, or VA.
SunWize, which operates as a solar power innovator, manufacturer and installer, said the funds will go to installing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems at 10 VA hospitals nationwide, for a total of more than 1.1 megawatt of solar energy. The company has, over the years, developed a highly effective working relationship with the VA, and knows all the ins and outs required to deliver winning bids.
All of the solar arrays will use high-efficiency Sanyo 210W N-Series modules combined with either Satcon or Fronius inverters, with the smallest of the systems rated at 50 kilowatts and the largest at 400 kilowatts.
These newest contracts are part of SunWize’s ongoing work for the VA, which include a 337-kilowatt rooftop array in the spring of 2009 at the VA’s Dallas Medical Center, and a 309-kilowatt system in the fall of 2008 at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Medical Center in Loma Linda, California. At the time it was completed, the Dallas installation represented the largest solar PV installation in Texas.
Construction on the various solar arrays – including one at Pago Pago (American Samoa); two in Sacramento and one in Vallejo, California; one in Phoenix, Arizona; one in Cheyenne, Wyoming; and three in New York State (Albany, Buffalo and Syracuse) – will begin early this year.
The solar installations are the VA’s response to a federal government mandate requiring federal agencies to increase energy efficiency and trim greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent a year, or 30 percent by 2015.
SunWize Technologies is a subsidiary of Japanese firm Mitsui & Co., Ltd., a diversified investment and trading company with interests in more than 91 countries worldwide. In October of 2009, SunWize entered into an agreement with international inverter manufacturer Fronius USA to use Fronius IG Plus and DATCOM as preferred inverter suppliers.
SunWize offers both custom-manufactured solar modules, from its factory in Kingston, and off-the shelf solar panels, like Sanyo, when providing specialized solar installation. The Kingston facility also provides a highly specialized R&D department, where new product development facilitates proprietary manufacturing of solar modules for remote and specialized renewable power needs.