New Jersey solar energy installer SolarGen and solar manufacturer Centrosolar America has announced the completion of a 102 kW rooftop solar power installation at the Salerno-Duane Infiniti car dealership in Denville, New Jersey.

SolarGen was able to reduce the on-site installation time required to one day from a typical three-week time frame by preassembling the 500 Centrosolar PV panel arrays with the racking systems at their warehouse in Annandale, New Jersey. Once completed, they hoisted the arrays with cranes onto the car dealership rooftop.

"It took us four hours from the time we arrived on-site with the arrays to have them in place on the roof," says SolarGen Vice President, Ed Hogrelius. Noting that the dealership is open for business six days a week, Hogrelius added, "There were no trucks, tractors, system parts or installation crews on premises, and the dealership was able to conduct 'business as usual' without disruption."

With unpredictable, adverse weather conditions an issue for the solar industry on the East Coast, preassembling solar arrays in a controlled warehouse environment and using cranes to deliver them quickly to rooftops mitigates the risk of weather-related downtime at jobsites and increased labor costs for installers. For the clients, this means less risk of extended construction disruption at their business locations caused by bad weather.

"SolarGen has addressed a serious challenge for installers on the East Coast," said Joe Cunningham, Director of Operations at Centrosolar America. "By using cranes, they have applied a routine construction practice to solving a number of significant problems for solar installers and their clients on the East Coast."

The PV modules used for the installation are the Centrosolar America's E-Series line, which are specifically engineered to resist adverse climate conditions including ice, hail, snow, high wind, humidity and intense heat. 500 of the panels were delivered from Centrosolar's warehouse in Edison, New Jersey directly to the SolarGen warehouse in Annandale, New Jersey where they were pre-assembled for the installation.

United Crane in Kenilworth, New Jersey provided the cranes and the Quantum Clean Energy Solutions in Mendham, New Jersey developed the project, which was financed and is owned by the Salerno-Duane Infiniti dealership.