New York landfill solar cover project now completed

Carlisle Energy Services, Inc. reported that its Spectro PowerCap™ Exposed Geomembrane Solar Cover system in Madison County, New York is completed. It is expected to be interconnected and fully operational within a month. Consulting engineer of record Barton & Loguidice submitted, and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation permitted, the installation as a 20 to 30 year long-term interim cover. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority provided a grant in order to demonstrate this technology to other landfill owners in the state.

The eight-acre demonstration system features Carlisle’s GeoTPO™ Geomembrane, with a south-facing 40kWp DC integrated solar photovoltaic array powered by Uni-Solar®. Carlisle’s system is expected to offset nearly all of the power requirements of the Madison County ARC Recycling Facility located on site. Partners of record on the project included liner installer CETCO Contracting Services and electrical installer O’Connell Electric.

The Madison County landfill is the first municipal landfill in the country to apply this technology in a closure project. Future plans for the site, referred to as the Madison County Agriculture and Renewable Energy Park, include a one-megawatt landfill gas system that captures the heat generated by the turbine engines to dry lumber on site and heat the building. Other on-site green energy programs are being considered such as the possibility of adding a windmill, hydroponic greenhouses, and/or an additional solar array.

Carlisle’s Spectro PowerCap is a dual-purpose landfill closure system that meets regulatory requirements as an alternative closure system and provides clean renewable energy. The system features Carlisle’s three-ply, scrim-reinforced GeoTPO Geomembrane that serves as both the closure system and platform for integrated solar photovoltaics. GeoTPO was developed exclusively for Exposed Geomembrane Solar Cap or Exposed Geomembrane Cap applications as both a long-term and final landfill closure solution.