Working with energy developer Clairvoyant Energy, VELCRO® Construction Fastening Systems has created a solar panel attachment system used in the world’s largest capacity rooftop solar array, on a General Motors plant in Zaragoza, Spain.
The project was developed with global environmental services provider Veolia Environment and the government of Aragon, Spain for Energy Conversion Devices, a worldwide solar technology company.
Blarie Townsend, Velcro USA Construction Division Manager, says that the application of VELCRO® fastening system technology in this case demonstrates an effective, green way to bring down project costs. That’s because this technology allows the solar panels to be easily secured upon initial installation, and quickly replaced in the event of a single panel’s malfunction. “This 12-megawatt array contains 85,000 solar modules covering 183,000 square meters,” says Townsend. “It is imperative that each panel can be rapidly installed, and if the need ever arises, detached without hassles. Without the VELCRO® brand fastening system, removing a permanently affixed panel could run a higher risk of damaging surrounding panels, or the roof surface itself.”
With the aid of Velcro USA technology, the panels can be installed at a rate of almost 2,000 per day, can maintain the integrity of the roof with no penetrations, and are engineered to withstand hurricane-force winds.