Sulphur Springs, TX - On May 4th, 2011, Hopkins County officials, Sheffield Metals International, Horn Brothers Roofing and other area business and civic leaders marked the grand opening of a 190kW Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) rooftop project atop the Hopkins County Civic Center. Hopkins County Judge Chris Brown and former Hopkins County Judge Cletis Millsap shared the honors of flipping a switch to activate the system’s two inverters. Sheffield Metals, and Horn Brothers Roofing jointly hosted the event, which was also attended by County Commissioners and Board Members.

The project, which was completed earlier in 2011, has a zero-year payback thanks to $827,000 of its million dollar cost being funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AARA). The remainder of the cost was offset by $175,000 in rebates offered by Oncor, the area's utility provider. Oncor supplies electricity to approximately seven million consumers in Dallas-Fort Worth and surrounding communities. The electrical installation was handled by CamSolar, a Dallas- Forth Worth-based company. Preliminary calculations estimate the roof will be able to produce approximately 292,355 kWh of electricity annually, saving approximately $45,000 per year on utility bills, and resulting in a CO2 reduction of 454,874 lbs. annually. The thin-film solar system integrates aesthetically within the standing seams of the metal roof on this multi-purpose facility, which is comprised of meeting rooms, an air-conditioned coliseum, a 40,000 square feet livestock pavilion, a 1,500- seat theatre and a new Equine Pavilion.

At the time of completion the project was the largest building-integrated thin-film laminate solar array on a low-slope metal roof in the state. Some of the site-formed metal roofing panels utilized on the project run 170’ long. The sustainability benefits include using one of the industry’s most advanced retrofit framing systems, and a 45,000 sq. ft. area over the horse stables, which Horn Brothers covered with Sheffield Metals International (SMI) SOLR metal roof panels.

Also unique to the project was the use of funding offered through the ARRA, and energy rebates. Horn Brothers and SMI ensured that the project met all the necessary standards to qualify for ARRA, and CamSolar worked with Oncor to provide additional rebates. Adding to the renewable energy benefits of the new system, the facility will also be able to collect data from the system in real time and utilize the information to calculate savings.

About Sheffield Metals

Sheffield Metals International is a leader in the manufacturing and distribution of coated and bare metal products. The company specializes in providing prepainted galvanized, Galvalume® and aluminum for the architecturally designed metal panel industry. More than 25 colors are continuously stocked in both Galvalume® and galvanized steel, complimented with several popular colors in aluminum coil. To learn more, visit www.coolrmetal.com.

© Copyright Unlimited Reach Media Inc. 2007 - 2011. All rights reserved. *Site is best viewed in Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers.

The content on Design And Build With Metal relates to metal roofing (standing and batten seam, shake, tile, shingle, corrugated and screw-down roofs); metal wall products (ribbed, smooth faced, metal composite and curtain walls); metal buildings (pre engineered steel, wood post frame, hangars and self storage); insulation; doors; paint coatings; and many related products (including roof accessories like snow guards, screws and vents). The site covers metal construction products using all types of substrates: steel, copper, aluminum, zinc, stainless steel, Corten, Terne, Galvalume, Zincalume, galvanized, tin and more. Environmental (green) issues, such as sustainability and cool initiatives, are also covered. Project, news and product submissions are welcomed...see information in About Us section

Development by Aardvark, Inc.