Construction Begins on the First True Solar Farm

Online, November 28, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Hyperion Systems of Amherst, MA (www.HyperionSystemsLLC.com) is constructing the first true 'Solar Farm'. The 100 kW system is owned and will be operated on Lynne and Jack Edwards' farm in Hadley, MA. While the term 'solar farm' has been used to describe solar projects that occupy large areas of land (think 10 acres or more), traditional 'solar farms' have all been built directly on the ground eliminating the possibility of growing crops on the once fertile soil. What makes the Edwards' farm different is that Hyperion is building the solar array over their farm without taking any of the land out of production. The farmers can continue to farm the land under the array - theirs will be the first true Solar Farm.

When completed the project will produce enough energy to supply the farm's and seven homes electrical needs. They also plan on selling the lucrative Massachusetts Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) on the open market. As Mrs. Edwards says, "Massachusetts not only makes such solar projects possible, they make them profitable, so we could find no reason not to embark on such a project with so many pluses." The Edwards' plan on recouping the system's cost in seven years.

Hyperion's owner, David Marley has been perfecting this unique system for over three years. The idea of installing solar over farmland began in 2006 when Mr. Marley looked into solar for his construction company's office building in Amherst. The building already contained a number of tenants that used a decent amount of energy. When the roof of the building needed replacing soon after purchase, he decided to install a solar array on the entire rooftop. He soon discovered that the amount of energy produced from that system only satisfied a fraction of the building's total electrical profile, which got him thinking about how he could produce enough energy to satisfy the entire building.

The simple fact that rooftop systems are constrained by the square footage of the roof led him to look toward the ground in his quest to generate more power and he began researching ground mounted systems. It occurred to him that there is very little unused land in New England, or the Northeast in general, suitable for constructing a ground-mounted system. There are, however, great tracks of open land in New England, as well as across the country, on farms.

As Mr. Marley continued to do research he found that many large-scale solar installations outside the southwest are built on farms. However, these installations are put on the ground rendering that land unusable. As the amount of farmland irreversibly lost to development continues to climb, Mr. Marley immediately began to think that there had to be a better way. Farms could be saved if a system could be developed that allows solar production on a large scale while still allowing farmers to continue farming their land.

He contacted Dr. Stephen Herbert, UMass Amherst's Associate Dean of Agriculture and Director of the UMass Agriculture Experiment Station, to talk about how well crops would grow in the partial shade of a solar array. Mr. Marley and Dr. Herbert constructed plywood mockups of elevated solar panels in the parking lot of Mr. Marley's office building and measured the amount of sunlight that hits the ground. Dr. Herbert knew that most plants are in some way shade tolerant and what they quickly discovered is that with sufficient spacing there is enough sunlight hitting the ground to grow most crops.

The next obstacle to overcome was how to construct an array over potentially muddy fields without tearing up the field with heavy equipment. Traditional construction methods use concrete to anchor structures, but pouring concrete could be disastrous to a productive farm for several reasons. First, concrete trucks and farms don't work well together because a truck full of concrete is extremely heavy and would quickly get stuck in soft earth; Second, field drainage is affected by concrete pylons; Third, the chemical composition of concrete may change the pH level of the surrounding soil and would therefore limit the agricultural choices for the farm; and Fourth, the time required for the concrete to cure could potentially take the farm out of production for at least a growing season. Clearly, the system that emphasizes preserving a farm requires an anchoring method that does not use concrete.

Mr. Marley and his crew began work on designing a system that was easy to install with relatively light equipment, be elevated enough off the ground to allow most farm equipment to drive under, flexible enough to allow the farmer to let more or less sunlight through when he changes crops, quick enough to install to not interrupt farm operations for an extended length of time, simple enough to minimize operations and maintenance expenses, as well as ensure that deep New England snow falls do not affect the system's performance. The system he designed is unique enough that Mr. Marley decided to file a patent for it in 2010.

Once a design was drawn up on paper the next step was to prove the concept. Dr. Herbert and the UMass Agriculture Experiment Station provided the proving ground location. With financial help from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Council, Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources, New England Clean Energy Council, and Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, a 17 kW prototype was constructed at the UMass Agriculture Experiment Station (the UMass Farm) in South Deerfield, MA. The system went 'live' in February 2011 and the first application of agriculture under the array was growing pasture grass for cattle grazing.

The UMass Farm decided to use that field as pasture with livestock grazing under the array at various times throughout the year. Early indicators are that there was nominal difference between the pasture grass grown under the array with that grown outside the shadowing of the array. The livestock were not intimidated by the structure; in fact, during the hot summer months of July and August the cows could be found in the shadows of the array using the panels for shade and the poles as scratching posts.

Furthermore, Hyperion's system at UMass has held up to some fairly severe weather conditions during 2011. Two weeks after the panels were installed the Amherst area experienced a nor'easter, which dumped up to 3 feet of snow on the area. While other PV systems, especially the rooftop variety were rendered useless and had to be shoveled out, Hyperion's system was completely clear and producing power. Later that spring while a tornado ripped through Springfield, unusually high winds had no affect on the system. Likewise, the system remained completely intact when Hurricane Irene traveled up the Connecticut Valley in September.

Lynn and Jack Edwards decided to pursue their installation after seeing the array at UMass and talking to Dr. Herbert in late spring of 2011. They had been looking at ways to fully utilize a buffer strip between their field and a tenant's organic crops. They were aware of other ground and roof mounted systems in the area but once they saw the Hyperion system at UMass they knew they had their solution. Hyperion's system provided them the ability to dual use their land - they can generate power and grow crops - a concept they enthusiastically endorse.