XL Solar Partners is installing a commercial rooftop solar system with the FR8T Yard, a commercial office building located at 4245 Richmond Avenue in Houston, Texas. The project ranks among Houston’s largest commercial solar installations inside the 610 Loop.
XL Solar, a Houston-based full-service solar energy system provider, designed the 250 kW solar system with high-efficiency modules to maximize power generation on the project’s constrained land area. Encouraged by Google’s Project Sunroof — a solar power initiative to map the planet’s solar potential, which named Houston as the most promising city in the United States for solar potential — the FR8T Yard’s rooftop system will soon offset much of its power consumption and operating costs while helping improve Houston’s environmental footprint.
“It’s encouraging to watch solar energy catching on for commercial uses in Houston,” said Larry Atherton, president of the FR8T Yard development. “For years, homeowners realized benefit of solar to lower energy costs and help the environment, and we hope our system will inspire other businesses to install rooftop solar systems. This project represents a giant step toward becoming a net-zero carbon facility, and we look forward to decades of environmental stewardship with our tenants.”
This solar project aligns with Mayor Sylvester Turner’s support for solar energy in Houston. Under his leadership, Houston, a member of C40 Cities Global Climate Leadership Group, is now committed to purchasing 100% renewables.
The city is currently the largest municipal user of renewable energy in the nation and according to Google’s analysis, “Houston…has the most solar potential of any U.S. city in the Project Sunroof data, with an estimated 18,940 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of rooftop solar generation potential per year.”
“We are pleased to have been chosen to install this system for the FR8T Yard,” said Xavier Perez, president of XL Solar. “We strive to support Houston’s rapidly growing renewable market by leveraging leading-edge technologies together with our years of industry experience in clean energy.”
He said XL Solar has its scope on solar projects throughout Texas.
“With state policies that remove market barriers and recognize solar’s benefits, Texas is poised to become the nationwide leader in solar energy, with more than 4 GW of capacity expected to be installed over the next 5 years,” Perez said. “Project Sunroof [shone] a new light on Houston; and the FR8T Yard project is only one of several projects that we have under development in Texas, where we plan to implement many large-scale commercial projects.”
News item from XL Solar Partners
