Pilkington North America – Reaching Sustainability Goals With Solar

The solar project will produce approximately 2.5 million kWhs of renewable energy annually and will offset about 50% of the energy used at the site’s Automotive Advanced Assembly Facility.

The output of this 1.9 MW-DC solar array placed in service in June 2022 will offset about 30,000 tons of carbon emission during the contract life, helping contribute to the company’s global sustainability goals.

Although real estate constraints posed challenges to the design of the solar system, a solution was created to showcase the project to PNA’s employees and vendors.

The project is the largest solar project constructed to date in the United States serving PNA’s facilities.

Overview

NSG Group is a global leading supplier of glass and glazing systems in the business areas of Architectural/Solar, Automotive and Creative Technology. Its PNA manufacturing facility in Rossford, Ohio is the home of a new 1.9 MW-DC/1.4 MW-AC onsite solar project, contributing to NSG Group’s global sustainability goal of reducing carbon emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030.

NSG Group is committed to reducing energy consumption and carbon (CO2) emissions by using energy more efficiently and to producing products that contribute to energy conservation. The solar project will produce approximately 2.5 million kWhs of renewable energy annually and will offset about 50% of the energy used at the site’s Automotive Advanced Assembly Facility.

This customer chose AEP OnSite Partners (‘AEP OnSite’), a well-known and trusted subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP), to lead their solar project. The experts at AEP OnSite helped guide, inform, and ultimately execute an onsite solar array project to supply its electricity at the facility.

The Challenge

PNA’s facility in Rossford, Ohio wanted to support NSG Group’s global sustainability goal of reducing carbon emissions. To do that, they worked with
AEP OnSite to determine what options would be best suited for the facility and the company’s needs and goals. Since PNA produces glass for solar modules, they desired a solution that used their own product.

Real estate constraints at the site posed challenges for the design and construction of the solar array.  PNA’s goal was to maximize solar generation utilizing constrained real estate at the Rossford, Ohio facility. Navigating existing conditions at the site while maintaining important access for deliveries and shipments was paramount.

The Solution

Since it was important to use their own product for the solution and there was land available within the perimeter of the facility, the decision was to develop a 1.9 MW onsite solar array project. However, the only land available for use was a brownfield that previously housed several buildings and a coal-fired power plant in the 1900s. AEP OnSite and PNA worked closely together and determined that due to the condition of the site caused by old demolished structures, the project required the construction of a ballasted solar energy facility. The ultimate solar design maximized generation while minimizing impact on traffic patterns entering and leaving the facility.

One of the unique aspects of the PNA Rossford Solar project was that that it was constructed with solar modules made of its own glass. AEP OnSite was able to procure the 4,300 modules used for the project, which were made by First Solar a leading American solar technology company in Perrysburg, Ohio using glass manufactured by PNA. In addition to the locally-sourced solar modules and racking system, over 80% of the construction labor was Ohio based. The use of their own product to meet their sustainability goals was a profound attestation demonstrated to customers and employees.

The solar project will produce approximately 2.5 million kWhs of renewable energy annually and will offset about 50% of the energy used at the site’s Automotive Advanced Assembly Facility. In addition, the solar array will offset about 30,000 tons of carbon emissions during the lifetime of the Purchase Power Agreement (PPA).

The project, which was completed on June 2, 2022, is the largest solar project constructed to date in the United States serving PNA’s facilities.

We chose to work with AEP OnSite because they provided the best overall proposal during the bid solicitation process, and AEP is a reputable company with solid and knowledgeable leadership/staff.”
James Lavrich, Regional Environmental Manager