Troy, Virginia-based Van der Linde Recycling tapped Tiger Solar (formerly Altenergy) to design, build and install a new 360.96-kW solar system on its rooftop. Over 750 panels will cover van der Linde’s construction and demolition processing facility in the next several months, supplying almost 100% of its electrical needs.
“We are very excited about our partnership with Tiger Solar. This project is right in line with our mission to be stewards of the environment,” said Andrea Johnson, CEO of van der Linde.
Waste and recycling companies are uniquely poised to reap the rewards of solar panel installation, particularly due to large roof space and high energy usage. Tiger Solar’s team of in-house experts will handle the engineering, procurement and construction of the system, spanning a 72,000 sq. ft-roof. While traditional energy prices are bound to fluctuate, the clean energy system will lock in a predictable cost stream, helping van der Linde save thousands on operational expenses.
“When I moved to the area in 2005, van der Linde Recycling was a wild idea with a hopeful mission. Now they feel more like an Albemarle County institute — a fantastic employer and a constant innovator, putting clean technologies to commercial work. We’re grateful for the chance to partner with Andrea and her team,” said Russ Edwards, president of Tiger Solar.
The system, developed in collaboration with Kelly Faust of Crux Solar, is expected to be fully operational by late Spring 2022.
News item from Tiger Solar (formerly Altenergy, Inc.)
Recycling plants are perfect projects for solar PV and or wind generation power. Some of the ‘heat’ recycling plants get is the amount of actual waste, the plant can profitably recycle and stay in business. It has been said modern recycling facilities depending on the technology used to recycle, can use from 20% and up to 40% of the waste stream and make recyclable products. Getting energy costs down also allows for multiple passes in the recycling processes to grab more materials for a more profitable recycling stream. In something like the company Redwood Materials, recycling lithium-ion batteries and mining the recycling stream for already refined battery materials makes for a more profitable waste and recycling stream. In the near future one might find specialty recycling could be a particular waste stream in one end of the process and refined or whole product manufacturing out of the other end of the plant.