By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff
One of six solar trackers installed outside Daniele Inc. in Burrillville. (Tim Faulkner/ecoRI News) |
“This is significantly beneficial for Rhode Island,” said Anthony Baro, managing principal of Providence-based E2SOL, the developer of the solar project.
The solar trackers, each about the size of a medium-sized tree,
are rated to produce 43 kilowatts of power. Because of the trackers' ability to
follow the path of the sun, the system generates enough kilowatt hours of
electricity for about six homes. Baro anticipates that the sleek,
innovative panels will inspire other tracker projects in the region — a
phenomenon known as the “popcorn effect.”
There also is less sunshine is the Northeast than in many other
regions of the country.
“The sunny season is so short everybody is trying to make the
most of it,” said Mark Klonicke, field technician for Vermont-based All Earth Renewables, the manufacturer of the
trackers. The company is considered a New England success story,
having manufactured and installed more than 2,250 solar-tracker systems
across the country.
Klonicke said solar trackers have becomes an attractive
investment in recent years, as the energy produced by solar panels has nearly
doubled while prices have dropped dramatically.
The $266,468 solar array received a $54,000 grant from the
state’s Renewable Energy Fund. The project is expected to be a precursor
to others at and around the new $50 million, 300,000-square-foot building.
Daniele Inc. is a large producer of dry-cured meats such as prosciutto,
pancetta and chorizo.