Renewable Energy Development

Solar gardens and wind farms are popping up across the country. Our distributors are telling us that site designers and engineers are specifying erosion control at an increasing rate. If you are not sourcing erosion control products for renewable energy sites, you are missing out on opportunities – and revenue.  In urban and rural areas alike, renewable energy installations are supplying more and more of our day-to-day needs. Be there to provide for their day-to-day erosion control needs.

Solar Installation Sites

As a general rule of thumb, a 1 MW photovoltaic power installation requires approximately 2.5 acres (1 hectare). Utility companies are building “community solar gardens,” as well as, giant solar “power plants.” To put this in perspective, solar gardens range from a few acres to the 579 MW capacity Solar Star plant in California.  The act of installation creates its own erosion hazards and revegetation is key to the success of the sites. East Coast Erosion Control products are ideally suited for just such challenges.

Wind Generation Sites

Think about it for just a moment ... a gearbox weighs 56 tons, a blade assembly 36 tons, and the tower itself weighs 71 tons –for a total of 164 tons per tower. Add to that, that wind generation installations are taking place throughout the middle of the country where wind erosion and agricultural nonpoint pollution are of increasing concern, and one immediately sees why renewable energy site erosion control practices are one of the biggest growth areas for the erosion control industry.  Every piece of equipment is being brought on to sites by truck, compacting soil, installed with cranes and excavators, further disrupting the soil. Developers are using erosion control BMPs to establish vegetation and restore sites after the construction of wind farms.