American Family Insurance installing nearly 4,500 rooftop solar panels

American Family Insurance is undertaking the largest solar panel rooftop installation ever in Wisconsin, putting in close to 4,500 solar panels at its national headquarters building in Madison.

A Madison-based commercial solar developer, SunPeak, is partnering with American Family on the project, which is expected to finish up in two or three months.

Once complete, the installation is estimated to produce 1.26 million kilowatts each year — enough to power about 122 homes for a single day. It would offset electricity use at the facility by up to 9 percent, saving around $191,000 in annual energy costs.

The insurer recently installed high-efficiency lighting in all its offices and redesigned its kitchen refrigeration systems to save over 4.5 million gallons of water a year.

“American Family Insurance has made a commitment to sustainability by implementing projects and initiatives that protect our environment and contribute to the well-being of our communities,” said Dan Rosetta, American Family Insurance facilities operations director.

Rather than featuring south-facing panels, like in the majority of solar systems, SunPeak’s DeltaWing design has east- and west-facing panels.

As well as increasing the proportion of energy-capturing space on the roof, this design cuts down on environmental wear-and-tear. Powerful winds can be a problem for south-facing solar systems, as they can catch the edge of the panel, putting strain on the design.

“For a south-facing system, you need a lot more weight to hold it,” said Maitri Meyer, marketing director for SunPeak. “Because DW is more aerodynamic, there’s less weight, less roof-loading, less strain on the building.”

Less strain means lower maintenance and repair costs moving forward.

“Conserving energy and utilizing renewable energy reaffirms our commitment to the environment while also reducing our operating costs, and that means we can better meet the needs of our customers,” Rosetta said.

The DeltaWing mounting system doesn’t need to penetrate the rooftop at all, and is held down with concrete. It largely eliminates ‘self-shading,’ where a standard ‘sawtooth’ design for south-facing panels causes them to overshadow one another at certain times of the day.

The panels’ low profiles and flatter design help not only with shade, but also with energy density. Because of its unique design, SunPeak’s system can produce up to 30 percent more energy per square foot than traditional solar systems.

American Family put out a request for proposal, or RFP, in February 2016. SunPeak succeeded in securing the project, though “it was a competitive RFP,” according to Meyer.

She said this project is close to the size of the national average, but “for Wisconsin, it’s a large system.” She added the average in-state solar rooftop project is “about half, or less than half the size of this one.”

SunPeak recently set the previous record for most solar panels in a rooftop installation with its 2016 project at Central Storage & Warehouse, which has 2,904 solar panels. American Family’s headquarters are set to be outfitted with 4,488.

–By Alex Moe
WisBusiness.com