The Future of Technology and Energy Come Together at Mill 19
The Future of Technology and Energy Come Together at Mill 19
February 17, 2020 | North American Clean Energy
It’s here, high above Mill 19, where Scalo Solar Solutions LLC, a division of Thornburg-based Scalo Companies, is constructing what could be the region’s largest solar array: More than 4,600 panels on a roof more than a quarter mile long that will generate enough electricity for all the building’s tenants in a $5 million project.
The large panels, which unlike most are see-through for an aesthetic effect on the historic building, are lifted up from a storage area and put into place on Mill 19’s long, formerly tin roof. The installation is being done without scaffolding, which would cost about as much as the solar arrays themselves. Instead, the installers are using an innovative system, literally working with a net stretched across the length of the workspace, that allows flexibility and safety in putting the arrays into place.
“On an old steel building, 85 feet in the air, nobody’s done anything like it,” said Mike Carnahan, general manager of Scalo Solar Solutions.
It will be the biggest solar array in Pittsburgh and one of the biggest in the region, but one of the contractors, Bruce & Merrilees, believes it’s also one of the largest sloped-roof solar arrays in the U.S. Bruce & Merrilees is working on the wiring for the project, which will provide 2.5 megawatts, enough electricity to power 264 homes for a year. The power will be used by the building and its tenants, and the system will go through a connection to Duquesne Light Co. that can send electricity back to the grid.
