Oasis Montana Completes largest Utility-Tied
Solar Power System in the Sate of Montana
Press Release March 15, 2010:
Biggest Grid-Tied Solar Electric System in Montana:
Oasis Montana's 50 KW Grid Tie Photovoltaic Array
243-220 watt Schott solar modules
Oasis Montana Inc. of Stevensville, MT, is
pleased to announce the completion and commissioning of a 50
kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) grid-tied power system, located near the
Smokejumper Center, west of Missoula, at the Missoula Technology &
Development Center (MTDC). Oasis Montana, in conjunction with its
installer Mark Dickson of Simple Power LLC, broke ground on this
project in October; the system at present consists of two hundred
and forty-three, 220 watt American-made Schott solar modules. The
two 15KW and one 13KW inverters were acquired from Solectria, a
Massachusetts manufacturer. There is also a smaller system (ten 220W
modules) installed on a pole mount at the entrance to the
Smokejumper Visitor Center, which will be activated pending the
installation of underground (and under asphalt) conduit later in
April. This smaller system will have its own separate Solectria
inverter.
Chris Daum, owner of Oasis Montana, says, "This system is, at
present, the largest, grid-tied solar electric system in Montana."
This system has no batteries; in full sun it should put out
approximately ~50 KW (or 50,000 watts) of DC power, which is
converted into grid-palatable AC power, thus making the MTDC's
electric meter spin slower. The first trial run, when the system was
powered up February 26th, showed 38KW on a partly sunny day!
A grant for part of this project will be forthcoming from
Northwestern Energy. Oasis Montana would like to thank Mark Dickson,
Brad Stevens, Jeff & Campbell Massey, Jim Chase, Joe Bartuska, Adam
Ondra, Jonah Malo, Gabriel Zeak, Apex Engineering, DC Power Systems,
the Waterman, Maxus Consulting and Eyers Electrical Contracting.
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If you have more questions or would like more pictures, please contact Chris Daum at 406-777-4309 or by e-mail at
info@oasismontana.com.
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