Information management company Iron Mountain says it will install solar PV systems on the roofs of eight document storage facilities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey – the first stage of a review of rooftop solar generation potential across its 1,000 global facilities.
The company said the panels are part of a strategy for fixing long-term utility rates while meeting environmental goals.
The new panels are expected to produce more than 5.2 million kWh of energy in their first year of operation and offset nearly 7 million pounds of carbon dioxide each year. Iron Mountain has made 20-year fixed rate purchase power agreements with SunEdison, in which the solar power services provider will finance, build and maintain the installations at each site, while Iron Mountain will purchase the energy generated.
In other solar developments, Johns Hopkins University has brought online an 818 kW solar PV system on seven buildings on three of its campuses in Baltimore, in one of the largest university rooftop solar arrays in the country and the largest in the city, energy partners Eastlight Renewable Ventures and RGS Energy said. The companies estimate that the new systems will generate 950,925 kWh of power in the first year and prevent over 35 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the system.
Eastlight developed the project and owns the systems. RGS Energy planned, engineered and installed the systems. Financing is through a long-term power purchase agreement that required no up-front capital from the university, Eastlight said.