Project Info
BRIGHTSMITH Coaters
120 Enterprise Avenue, Morrisville, PA 19067
Sustainable New Development or Renovation
Industrial – Metal Coil Coating and Laminating Facility
Project Team
Architect/Designer: Vachon Sustainable Energy, Inc.
Project Contractor: Scalo Solar Solutions
Project Engineer: Vachon Sustainable Energy, Inc.
Project Owner: BRIGHTSMITH Coaters
Project Description
With a total of 27,000 square feet of InSpire HP solar air heating panels (manufactured by ATAS) installed on the south facing wall of this building, BRIGHTSMITH Coaters has a state-of-the-art coil coating and post-painting building.
The high performing panels were mounted a fewn inches from the building’s outer wall. The precision perforations in the wall panels allow outside air to travel through the face of the panel. Solar heated air at the surface of the panel is drawn through the perforations, where it rises between the newly created plenum and enters the building’s central ventilation system or supply fan. InSpire HP utilizes a unique selective surface that has high solar absorption and low emittance ratings which makes the system even more effective than traditional InSpire panels, which have a 70% PVDF painted finish. The Select Blue color of InSpire HP was chosen by BRIGHTSMITH for their building. The system also shades the building structure in the summer months thereby reducing internal temperatures of the building.
- Max air flow for this InSpire HP system is 226,000 cfm, with a peak efficiency of 89.5%.
- Yearly output of the system is 1,210,000 kWh of power generated, equal to 9,526 million BTUs of natural gas resulting in an annual savings of $90,620.
- Reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 602 tons of CO2 per year (equivalent to removing 110 cars off the road).
- A further 647.8 kW DC (562.5 kW AC) solar photovoltaic array is installed on the roof, generating 847,200 kWh of electricity, saving the company over $38,000 annually.
Since December 1, 2022, 156,547 kWh have been generated, resulting in $7,200 in electric savings since that time. The rooftop solar photovoltaic array and the solar air heating panels were installed by Scalo Solar Solutions of Pittsburgh, PA. Currently, a 30% federal tax credit is being offered for certain building improvements, such as the addition of solar air heating and/or solar photovoltaics systems, and many states also offer incentives. To learn more, visit www.dsireusa.org, which is a database of state incentives for renewables and efficiency. With this recent improvement to BRIGHTSMITH’s headquarters, it demonstrates how rooftop solar photovoltaics and InSpire HP solar air heating wall panels can work together, resulting in an energy efficient building with lower carbon emissions.