EDISON, NJ-The largest rooftop-mounted solar panel in the United States was completed here yesterday at 145 Talmadge Rd. here. The 4.26-megawatt system from Avidan Management will produce more than 5 million kilowatt hours annually, the company says.

Some 17,745 solar panels have been installed on the roof of the 656,255-square foot building, enough to service about half of the power needs of the building’s multiple tenants, which utilize the facility as office space and for the storage of dry goods and refrigerated and frozen foods.

“I think it’s going to be hard to top,” Avi Avidan, managing member of Elizabeth, NJ-based Avidan Management, tells GlobeSt.com. “But I’m going to try.”

Avidan was joined by a number of state and local officials at a completion ceremony that also included representatives from Solar Nation, which installed the array, and Solar World, which manufactured the panels.

Solar Nation was selected after an impressive display of homework in their first meeting with Avidan, he says. “They did not leave any stone unturned, coming in with all of the facts and figures,” Avidan says. Solar World’s panels were selected because of the quality, and the fact that they were manufactured in the United States. “We wanted to buy products made in the US--not just the panels but all possible components,” Avidan says.

The panels cover 90% of the building’s roof, which had to be retrofitted to accommodate the construction. Skylights were eliminated and the sprinkler system upgraded to maximize the amount of panels that could be installed, Avidan says. “We went the extra mile, spending more money,” he notes. The project received financing by Investors Savings Bank, SRECs and Avidan equity.

The installation will create an estimated energy savings of $200,000 per year, with a payback period of seven years. The building’s tenants will receive a portion of their electricity under a Power Purchase Agreement arrangement. Avidan Management will purchase the solar-generated electric output from Avidan Energy Solutions, then sell the power to its tenants at a below market cost. In addition to the solar panel installation, Avidan also retrofitted the building’s lighting to improve its energy efficiency, and also improved insulation.

The state’s largest ground solar array, a 4.1-megawatt installation in Titusville, came on line in September.

Instant Insights /

Nation&#146;s Largest Solar Rooftop Shines on Edison

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Nations Largest Solar Rooftop Shines on Edison