OPEL Solar and TRUENORTH Solar and Environmental have announced a strategic partnership to install utility-scale solar fields on brownfield sites across North America that have been deemed otherwise unusable.
Brownfield sites are generally defined as abandoned or underused industrial and commercial facilities available for re-use. Expansion or redevelopment of such sites are usually complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.
By installing solar installations on urban brownfield sites, cities and municipalities will be able to transform blighted, unusable areas of land into productive green energy fields that will address the growing need for energy in urban areas as well as help utilities address clean energy mandates.
"Turning brownfields into solar fields represents more than just a tremendous business opportunity for OPEL Solar and TRUENORTH," stated OPEL Solar's CEO, Leon M. Pierhal, "It's a way for both companies to give back to these communities, generate badly needed municipal revenues by generating green energy and help revitalize blighted and unusable urban land."
"At the same time, we see this initiative as another example of our strategy to enhance shareholder value by continuing to uncover new, expanded market opportunities for providing our solar technology expertise," Pierhal continued.
OPEL's solar solutions for these fields includes a total 'package' of services such as land assessment, engineering, EPA assistance, remediation or mitigation of the land, installation, utility company cutover and funding or power purchase agreement ("PPA") assistance.
OPEL Solar will be providing their patented HCPV solar panels and industry-leading advanced tracker systems to the projects while TRUENORTH Solar will handle the land remediation and installation.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that site cleanup revenue, for the companies doing the clean-up, can amount to approximately $6-8 billion annually as experts forecast that there may be as many as 4,000 brownfields in the United States, roughly the equivalent of 30,000 football fields. Add in Superfund sites and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act sites and the total jumps to more than 14 million acres that could be redeveloped as renewable energy sites.
"TRUENORTH principals see great potential for solar energy and its ability to bring renewable energy to communities throughout North America at a reasonable cost. At the same time we also see the untapped potential for using brownfields as a business development asset for creating clean energy sites," said Roland J. Harris, a Principal of TRUENORTH Solar and Environmental LLC.
"We are very committed to this line of business. In fact three companies formed TRUENORTH exclusively for capitalizing on the solar energy opportunity while also enabling the remediation of brownfields."
"We want to work exclusively with OPEL Solar in New England to transform the land into solar energy fields. We know that OPEL Solar has the expertise to manage the total project and provide the superior products to offer the customers the optimal solar energy solution," echoed Timothy Bartha, another Principal of TRUENORTH.
OPEL Solar intends to be a leading solar brownfield solution provider, according to Pierhal. To that end, OPEL Solar is looking for additional companies like TRUENORTH to be strategically placed throughout North America, and OPEL Solar plans to announce such alliances as they develop.
"Complemented by several world-class partners who share our vision and desire to give back, OPEL Solar can manage the process of transformation for brownfields for communities and agencies that simply do not know where to begin," stated Pierhal.
"Not only will it generate revenue for OPEL and bring positive land remediation for communities across North America, it will also generate jobs for North Americans and get local manufacturers and suppliers moving again to support the solar development of brownfields."
Pierhal commented that since announcing OPEL Solar's Brownfield Initiative, he has received calls from around the world asking for assistance in establishing similar directives.
As the commitment to rejuvenate otherwise 'dead' land deepens, a broad spectrum of federal and state government grants, financing and investment incentives are available for redevelopment and remediation of these sites. A sample of the primary federal agencies involved includes: EPA, DOE, Department of Defense, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forestry Services, Bureau of Mines and the Bureau of Reclamation.
