ACUA

Atlantic County Utility Authority (ACUA) in Atlantic City, New Jersey | 500 kW System

Scope of Work

This project consists of two rooftop PV arrays, one carport-mounted PV array, and two ground-mounted PV arrays.  Altogether the solar energy system consists of 2,700 modules.  All of the electricity generated by the solar system is supplied directly to the ACUA’s wastewater treatment facility.

Brief Description of Effort

SunDurance, via its predecessor company Alternity Power, engineered, procured and constructed a 500 kW solar energy system for the Atlantic County’s Wastewater treatment plant project that combined solar energy arrays with a wind farm.  This was the first wastewater treatment plant in the United States to be powered by a combination of both wind and solar energy. 

The site posed unique challenges due to coastal winds as well as the unpredictable subsurface conditions near the landfill.  Unlike natural geological conditions, which are somewhat predictable after proper geotechnical investigations have been performed, this site contained a wide variety of municipal and construction waste.  Buried objects, such as large appliances, blocked drilling.  Soil bearing and bearing depth varied from place to place, offering no means for placing deep pile foundations or concrete excavations.  After conducting a study of wind and soil at the site, we developed a unique, customized design for foundation of the carport to ensure it provided enough stability to handle the 120 mph winds that might hit the site in the event of a storm or hurricane.  The solution was to drive narrow helical piers using a simple yet fast technique that minimized the duration and schedule risk posed by this exploratory method. Nearby wetlands were identified and avoided, thus greatly simplifying the permitting process.

A solar energy metering and monitoring system was installed to record the total output of the solar arrays and alert the ACUA team if any data deviations indicate a problem with one of the arrays.