East Decatur Station Unveils State’s Most Advanced Photovoltaic Commercial

East Decatur Station Unveils State’s Most Advanced Photovoltaic Commercial
Solar System Designed and Installed by Radiance Solar


As East Decatur Station (EDS) carves out a unique live/work/play community in Decatur, its creators, Jack Honderd, Pat Murphy, and Chuck Bosserman, took an exciting step toward sustainability and installed a 147 kW photovoltaic (PV) system, one of the largest commercial rooftop systems in metro Atlanta and Georgia.

Made up of three different arrays, the system produces 198,134 kWh of energy a year and will help offset the electricity load. Though the increased presence of renewable energy is inevitable, the creators of EDS take the steps to reduce their environmental impact today not tomorrow.

The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) provided East Decatur Station with a rebate for the photovoltaic installation through the Clean Energy Property Rebate Program. Established in 2009 as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Clean Energy Property Rebate Program offsets up to 35 percent of the cost of installing renewable energy property, implementing lighting retrofits or building efficiency upgrades, subject to a maximum cap that varies depending on the technology installed. GEFA provides assistance with projects that correlate with its mission to improve the quality of life for today and future generations of Georgians. The substantial contribution allowed East Decatur Station’s vision to become a reality.

Radiance Solar, an Atlanta-based solar engineering, procurement and construction firm EPC, installed the system, which is comprised of three state-of-the-art technologies:

    * Sunpower’s T5 module integrates the solar panel, frame and mounting into one non-penetrating, wind resistant tile with 19.5 percent cells, the most efficient commercially available.
    * Schuco’s MPE 220W module is distinguished by poly- crystalline solar cells with high cell efficiencies for the highest possible outputs per square meter of module area.
    * For the atrium and other architectural features, Sanyo bifacial HIT Double module takes advantage of reflective light. The back face of a HIT Double panel generates electricity from ambient light reflected off surrounding surfaces, and combines with power from the front face of the panel.  This results in up to 30 percent higher power generation per square foot.

The combination of these three module types creates an innovative solution to the multi-building East Decatur Station site.

Jaime Porges, COO of Radiance Solar, says, “I applaud Jack, Pat, and Chuck here at East Decatur Station, whose vision of solar has the potential to change the city of Decatur. Excitedly, our team installed the first Sunpower T5 roof tile in Georgia.”