Unirac and Bella Energy Complete Milestone Solar Project on Salt Palace Convention Center

It is the largest commercial roof mount PV system in the state of Utah and provides more than 18% of the 675,000 square foot convention center's power needs

LBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, May 29, 2012 — Unirac, Inc., a Hilti Group Company and North America's leading provider of infrastructure for solar power systems, was selected by Bella Energy, a nationwide commercial solar developer and project engineering firm, as the solar mounting supplier for a 1.65 MW roof mount on the Salt Palace Convention Center, in Salt Lake City Utah.


The completed array is the largest commercial roof mount PV system in the state of Utah and provides more than 18% of the 675,000 square foot convention center's power needs.

Leif Cook, Design Engineer from Bella Energy, expressed high satisfaction with Unirac's ISYS Roof Mount 1.5 (IRM 1.5) system because the flat roof solution allowed Bella to design a system that was optimized within the constraints imposed by the site conditions. "A major concern on this project was preserving the integrity of the newly installed roof membrane on the Salt Palace Convention Center. IRM's vaulted configuration makes roof inspections relatively easy and makes less contact with the roof as compared to most of the other rooftop systems available," said Cook.

Neill Vickers, Product Manager for commercial products stated that "the ISYS Roof Mount 1.5 system provides a wide array of new options that increase the adaptability and configurability of the system in order to address challenges that are encountered on the majority of commercial rooftop solar projects." Just about any PV module available on the market today can be racked and a wide range of tilt angles from 0 to 30 degrees are supported. An adjustable roof interface provides varying levels of height adjustment that enable a designer to go over objects instead of around them. This feature makes debris accumulation and water ponding issues a problem of the past. More importantly, it reduces the impact of obstacles that are frequently encountered on a commercial flat roof project, thereby increasing available solar installation space by 15-20%. A new ballast option is now available to reduce the number of penetrations when required.

Peter Lorenz, CEO of Unirac said, "Unirac is proud to have played a significant role in making this project a success for Bella Energy. Our innovative spirit, commitment to performance engineering, and comprehensive customer support complement Bella Energy's well-earned reputation for quality and service. We look forward to fostering a synergistic relationship with Bella Energy to provide dynamic products and services to the renewable energy market."

"The Salt Palace Convention Center is a wonderful project that showcases solar energy in the State of Utah. We are proud to have technology partners like Unirac to help Bella Energy build systems that will power communities for decades," said Jim Welch, CEO of Bella Energy.

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