ABQ Bernalillo County

Project Details

In March 2019, Affordable Solar was contracted to design, install, own and operate a carport solar array to be located at the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority’s (ABCWUA) San Juan Chama Water Treatment Plant through a Power Purchase Agreement. This is Affordable Solar’s second project with ABCWUA.

The structural support are steel canopy structures providing both covered parking and mounting for the solar project. The carport solar array consists of 16,458 – Boviet 380W PV modules and 95 SMA String inverters for a total output capacity of 6.268 kW. The engineering adjustments and the installation were complex due to underground utilities prevalent throughout the campus and the required location of the carports. In order to maximize plant capacity, panels were also installed on two water tanks.

The array was completed in Q4 2020 and, to-date, is one of the largest solar carports in the United States. Over the life of the 30 year contract, the project will provide ABCWUA with millions of dollars in energy savings without capital investment while allowing them to meet their renewable energy goals.