Cogenra Solar expands into healthcare market with Tucson Medical Center

MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: Cogenra Solar, a provider of distributed solar cogeneration systems and renewable energy service solutions, announced a solar cogeneration project at Tucson Medical Center (TMC), Southern Arizona’s largest community hospital. The installation will be the first healthcare solar cogeneration application and will produce renewable electricity and hot water for TMC’s campus power plant.

The 46 SunDeck module system, constructed on the roof of the TMC power plant, will provide the building with solar electricity and solar hot water. Cogenra’s solar cogeneration array is TMC’s first renewable energy project and was chosen for the technology’s ability to provide large amounts of hot water, in addition to electricity, and for its quick payback.

“We use thousands of gallons of hot water every day. As a community hospital, decreasing our natural gas consumption and energy bills is very important, and solar cogeneration offers a way to address those needs,” says Richard Prevallet, VP, Facilities and Construction at Tucson Medical Center. “This is our first renewable energy project and it’s encouraging to see that the economics of solar cogeneration allowed us to implement a renewable energy solution that helps us save money, while also helping the environment.”

Working with Technicians for Sustainability, Cogenra Solar is constructing a 115kW solar thermal system which will pre-heat an average of 5,300 gallons of water daily for the reverse osmosis (RO) boiler. The system will go online in May, and is expected to produce 31,600 kWh of electricity, reducing consumption by 7,000 therms of gas annually and saving over $8,500 per year in energy costs.

“Healthcare is an ideal industry for solar cogeneration implementation,” says Gilad Almogy, CEO of Cogenra Solar. “Due to factors that include high hot water demand, increased focus on building functionality and efficiency, and a number of environmental industry mandates, hospitals stand to gain enormously from this technology.”

Tucson Medical Center represents Cogenra’s first healthcare installation as it joins a list of other environmental leaders who’ve implemented solar cogeneration, including Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, Facebook, the University of Arizona, and the Navy, Army and Marine branches of the US Military. Cogenra’s hybrid solar cogeneration technology is modular, scalable and simple, and offers returns in less than five years for a large majority of customers.