Page 21 - GreenMaster Winter 2022

THE GRID
Shop
ELIGIBLE ARTICLE
GORDON WITTEVEEN AWARD
Solar panels being installed.
The building consists of an equipment manager’s area including: Dual Express grinders, tire machine, a hoist to ensure the proper maintenance of equipment, a welder and a state of the art make up air system. There is also a manager’s and equipment manager’s office, lunchroom with fridge, microwave, electronic job board, a water storage room for potable water, two washrooms and an electrical room including inverters and battery storage center. This building is fully self-sustained and runs off solar power and a backup generator, recycled water, and internet access.
Battery storage room.
SOLAR POWER
The maintenance shop has 66 solar panels on the south side of the roof, mounted 3 high from the eavestrough to peak and 22 rows wide from the east to the west side of the building. These panels can produce approx. 20kw of electricity, which is utilized to charge the batteries and, once the batteries are 100% charged, bypass the batteries to directly power the shop. These 12 batteries have an output of 7.4 KW/H each and a cumulative storage capacity of 90 KW/H. The electricity produced is converted from DC to AC electricity via two inverters and is distributed where needed throughout the turf facility.
The electricity generated from the solar and stored in the batteries is able to power everything required in the maintenance shop but as a fail safe for shorter winter days, heavy snowfall and extenuating circum- stances, a backup propane powered 16 KW/H generator will auto transfer and run the shop and charge batteries simultaneously. To ensure the continuity of the batteries we have parameters that initiate the generator when the battery capacity reaches 25%. This safeguard protects the batteries from damage and any loss of power during low solar production. Here is a breakdown of electricity allocation:
GreenMaster • CGSA • 21