With facilities in six states and on both coasts, industrial recycling services provider Parallel Products is in the business of helping other companies be more green. But it has green goals of its own, and the addition of a 1.9 MW rooftop solar array
on a newly constructed bottle recycling facility in New Bedford, MA, certainly helps the company in that regard. The solar panels are arrayed on more than 150,000 sq. ft. of standing seam metal roofing, attached with PV attachment products from Colorado-based
S-5!.
Located in historic New Bedford, an old whaling town on the Southern Coast of Massachusetts, Parallel Products of New England (PPNE) recently completed its Duchaine Boulevard project, a center for processing and technology development—on its 130-acre
campus for recycling and the production of green energy.
The campus houses solar energy, green energy production and recycling recovery. The solar energy generated on-site reduces energy costs and fossil fuel consumption for energy, ultimately resulting in decreasing the company’s carbon footprint and
contributing power back to the grid.
The new Duchaine Boulevard facility features a standing seam metal roof with 1.9 MW of rooftop solar PV. The EPC contractor recommended the S-5! PVKIT® — a direct-attach™, rail-less solar solution to provide a secure, economical and penetration-free method for attaching the solar modules to the metal roof.
The Challenge
PPNE processes/recycles glass, aluminum and recyclable plastic containers collected through Massachusetts’s bottle deposit program. PPNE had identified a need for a glass processing facility as the state’s only bottle production facility closed
in 2018, leaving the Commonwealth with limited solutions for glass handling and a large accumulation of glass due to difficulties in transporting glass to out-of-state recycling markets.
The new glass processing Duchaine Boulevard facility is a necessary development for the Commonwealth to ensure the recycling of glass bottles versus disposal and/or lower value usages such as fill.
The company’s main goal was to offset its carbon footprint since PPNE annually processes 3,710 tons of aluminum, 3,892 tons of recyclable plastic containers and now 50,000 tons of glass, utilizing heavy machinery and equipment that consume an enormous
amount of power.
The Solution
PPNE decided the best way for it to offset its electrical usage was to add solar. This new facility has increased solar capacity by 1.9 MW, part of its greater 4 MW solar initiative on campus.
PPNE chose the PVKIT and S-5-V Mini clamps to secure the solar panels to the metal roof. The PVKIT’s pre-assembled components enabled solar installers to “lay & play” PV modules with tested, engineered, cost-saving, attachment.
The project has enabled PPNE to further its sustainability goals. Not only is the company offsetting its carbon footprint, but it has also far exceeded what it consumes on-site and is selling power back to the grid via the local utility company through
the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program, a long-term sustainable solar incentive program that promotes cost-effective solar development in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Long-Term Outlook
Once a Polaroid manufacturing facility (now dubbed the green energy center), PPNE recycled and repurposed a rather neglected and underutilized property, and with the addition of rooftop solar, is now generating power, providing recycling services, adding
jobs locally and contributing to the economic development of the city.
Project Team
Owner Developer: Parallel Products
EPC: ECS Electric, Inc.
Module Manufacturer: CSUN
Inverter Manufacturer: Solectria
Mounting/Racking Manufacturer: S-5!
Project Stats
Roof Profile: 3” trapezoidal double-lock standing seam metal roof
Roof Measurements: Total >150,000 square feet
Roof Pitch Varies: ½:12 to 3:12
Project Size: 1.9 Megawatt
S-5! Products Supplied
PVKIT® (6500)
S-5-V™ Mini clamp (6500)