Erthos, a solar mounting company specializing in securing panels flat on the ground, has been contracted for 14 MW of PV projects and is in negotiations for an additional 107-MWDC project. Maryland-based community solar developer Chaberton Energy is one of five contractors working with Erthos.
Earth Mount Solar PV by Erthos.
“Erthos technology allows us to build projects in specific locations that present challenges in terms of land availability and visibility. We’re excited to collaborate with the Erthos team, and we look forward to the opportunity to deploy this technology at more locations,” said Stefano Ratti, CEO of Chaberton Energy.
Erthos and Chaberton Energy have executed two agreements for projects in the mid-Atlantic. Path Company has agreed to use Erthos’ Earth Mount Solar PV for a community college project in its home state of Mississippi.
“With Erthos, we are getting a solution adapted to our specific site and project, provided by some of the most experienced professionals in the business,” said Russ Phillips, co-founder of Path Company. “We know our project is in good hands.”
Projects under contract will bring the installed base of Earth Mount Solar PV to 17 MWdc.
News item from Erthos
Just from the picture, it looks like density per solar PV field is condensed and yet the ability to actually clean and maintain the solar PV array seems to be made more difficult. There seems to be some serious pros and cons to this type of installation. Being directly on the ground mounted, it seems snow capture would be a problem in some areas, dust would also become a problem in other areas while the low mount would also make wind loading during wind storms less destructive to the whole operation and direct “face up” orientation is a dare for hail storms to pelt each and every panel in the solar PV farm to break as many panels as possible per incident.
What is the overall operating parameters of such a system? Lay the solar PV site down like carpet, let it ride until enough aggregate damage degrades the site a specific amount then repair or replace the entire solar PV field at some later date? You can pay me now, or you can pay me later seems to not be such a good overall plan.