A number of utility projects start with a hunt for some available area.
A big open field works well. An empty piece of property works. So do strips of open area near existing infrastructure.
An old wastewater treatment lagoon doesn’t make most lists.
However, in Middletown, Delaware, this type of lagoon made the cut.
Over 5,000 solar panels currently sit atop six acres of a 14-acre wastewater treatment lagoon and provide a 3-megawatt floating solar installation.
Middletown, Delaware’s first floating solar installation, now sits in a spot that few energy developers would consider first.
Not all solar projects take place on land
This installation looks unlike many other traditional solar installations.
Panels aren’t arranged in row upon row across open fields.
No single piece of land is designated just for energy production.
Instead, the panels sit directly on water the town already uses to treat its wastewater.
Six acres of the lagoon are covered with floating panels, generating 3 megawatts of electrical power.
That decision transformed the project from a common solar development into an uncommon one.
Rather than seeking new space for the project, the team behind the project decided to find another use for existing space.
It took years for the vision to reach the water
Construction took years. Almost a decade of collaboration between Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation and the Town of Middletown helped bring the project to completion.
Many years elapsed between when the initial vision for the project was conceived and the official opening ceremonies.
As well, multiple entities became involved in the efforts over the years.
D3 Energy, Gardner Capital, and American Municipal Power all partnered on the project.
Federal tax incentives helped reduce project costs, while local labor supported construction activities throughout Middletown.
Opening day represented much more than a single building season.
Few wastewater ponds host projects of this scale
Some renewable-energy projects are known because they’re bigger than others nearby.
Others are notable because they’re among the first in their areas.
DEMEC’s floating solar facility in Middletown is both. It is one of the five largest floating solar facilities on the East Coast.
That designation puts DEMEC’s Middletown location in a very small group of large floating solar developments operating in the region.
Local governments that deliver public power rarely view wastewater ponds as potential sites for energy-generating equipment.
Yet this pond now hosts one of the region’s larger floating solar projects.
Few wastewater treatment ponds become home to projects of this scale.
Two public uses for one location at once
Wastewater treatment still takes place beneath the solar array.
Energy generation did not replace the original function of the pond but instead added a second public use to that location.
Now both functions occur simultaneously in the same general location.
While the treatment process continues under the solar panels, thousands of solar panels above generate electricity.
Energy generation and electric service delivery share a physical location with previously delivered community services.
Since there are no additional parcels of land required for electric service delivery, another aspect of the project’s design is viewed positively by project supporters.
One location today supports two simultaneous public uses.
After completion comes the next phase of learning
Completion marked the end of one portion of the project.
A $125,000 Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) grant from the American Public Power Association will fund a case study on the facility.
Lessons from Middletown will be documented in a case study for other public-power communities.
Thousands of solar panels are now generating electricity from an unlikely location.
Those lessons may eventually travel far further than the water where these floating solar panels now reside.
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