Powell's Books is an icon in Portland, a city that in itself is iconic as a progressive and green community. In order to show their support for clean, renewable energy and reap the financial and energy saving benefits from such a system, Powell's Books put out the call for designs and bids for a roof mounted solar electric system for the warehouse where they operate Powell's.com, an on line book sales and distribution division.

Originally, we became involved with the Powell's Books solar project through Doug Boleyn, an engineer Vince had worked with before. After the bidding process, Powell's, choose Energy Design because of our attention to detail on the design work and our reputation for well constructed systems.

The array was installed on a 1950's era warehouse, which posed some unique problem solving opportunities. Powell's wanted as few attachment points as possible through the membrane roofing system, and the building's beam placement necessitated an unusually long span between connections. Working with the engineering firm Nishkian & Dean, a racking system utilizing galvanized, cold-rolled structural steel was agreed upon. Energy Design set up a fabrication shop and built the solar array support system on site. Around 65,000 lbs of structural steel was used to complete the final array support structure.

At 100,000 Watts, The Powells.com installation is a powerful and impressive commercial solar array. It is also a great example of how financially viable and efficient such systems are. Though the specifics are confidential, this system will not only pay for itself in 5 years, it will turn a substantial profit!