ARTICLE / 89.3 KPCC
As of 2022, PVNavigator, LLC’s accomplishment of originating, financing, developing and bringing the 3.1 MW Milliken Landfill PV solar installation online is still the only utility scale PV solar-on-landfill installation in operation in the Los Angeles basin. A new approach to energy: Using old landfill sites to generate solar powerRepresentative Projects
Development
Somerdale Road Landfill Solar FacilityGloucester Township, NJ- 3 MW on a former Owens Corning Corp. landfill
- Approvals via a Township, NJDEP, KPJM, and PSE&G
Milliken Landfill Solar FacilityOntario, CA- 3.1 MW on a County of San Bernardino landfill
- Approvals via County, SCE and Regional Water Quality Control Board
- Video: Completed Milliken Landfill Solar Facility
- Video: Construction of Milliken Landfill Solar Facility
Former Kaiser Steel Concept Solar DevelopmentFontana, CA- 1 MW with storage
- Interconnect feasibility via SCE
Consulting
PNL consulted for Tesoro Corporation (now Andeavor)
PNL Evaluated the Feasibility of Installing a Solar Power “Cover” on Leach Piles at Coeur Mining’s Mine in Rochester, Nevada
PNL’s Layouts for PV Solar Power Installations on Dow’s RCRA Containment Cell at Bristol, PA Facility
PNL Advised Ethyl Corporation on the Installation of a Solar Facility at their Pasadena, TX Plant
PNL Assisted Gestamp Solar (a Division of ACEK Renewables (Spain)) Define Solar-Feasible Landfills in Hawaii
PNL Performed a Feasibility Study on the Installation of a 4-6 MW PV Solar Power Installation on the Closed Phosphogypsum Stack at the Mississippi Phosphates Corporation Site, Pascagoula, MS
Origination & Transfer
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Phosphogypsum Stack, DePue, IL
PVNavigator, LLC entered into an agreement with ExxonMobil in 2017 to evaluate, from combined environmental, geotechnical, interconnect and power-sales perspectives, the feasibility of developing a PV solar power project on the landfill, after remediation had been completed. The project was initially sized in the 12MW range. In its latter stages, the project is being developed by Ameresco, Inc. where it is scaled at 27MW.
PVNavigator, LLC Services
Site Selection & Preliminary PV Development Feasibility Screening
- Landowner Representation within the PV Development Marketplace
- Site(s) Identification
- Option Period & Land Lease Documents
- GIS Analyses & Site PV Suitability Evaluation
- Site Owner Engagement, Visioning & Coordination
- Stakeholder Engagement & Education, Community Outreach
- Utility Interaction & Power Offtake Evaluation
- Preliminary Go Vs No-Go Assessment
- Conceptual PV Array & MW-age Capacity Computations (HelioScope & PVSyst)
- Project Planning: Schedules, Permitting Requirements, Implementation Risks, Interconnection
- PV System Single Line Drawings
- Power Offtake & Marketing Alternatives (Power Bid-In to Utility/Buyer RFOs)
Environmental Permitting
- Permitting Strategies
- California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA, Initial Studies)
- Site OM&M Plan’s Addendum for PV System Operations
- Federal, State & Local Permits
- Environmental Compliance Management Plans
Design & Pre-Construction
- Visual (Line of Sight) Assessments & Simulations
- Drone & GIS Data and Information Collection
- Regulatory Agency Coordination
- Interconnection Feasibility Study Coordination
- PV System Design Coordination & Oversight
PV Installation Construction
- Field Construction Oversight
- Cost-Scope-Schedule Risk Management
- H&S Oversight
Where: PVNavigator, LLC Executes via Defined Work Focus Areas. One, For Example, Being the Los Angeles Basin.
PVNavigator, LLC has been assembling a portfolio of environmentally impacted sites (esp. closed landfills) on which to develop MW-scale PV solar power installations.
What
- PVNavigator leverages the landfill expertise of sister company, Project Navigator, Ltd.
- PVNavigator, LLC consults on the development of rack-mounted, photovoltaic solar power installations on closed landfills.
- Expertise and design on the racking of PV projects on engineered landfill caps.
How
We screen the feasibility of potential PV projects via a combination of technical and economic criteria.
We involve the landfill site owner in the development process.
The solar development pathway, viewed from an industrial landowner’s perspective, for the installation of a solar power development. See text boxes 1 to 4 for commentary on the development pathway.
Who
Two experienced sister organizations.
- PV solar development on landfill and brownfield sites
- Site sourcing/site suitability analysis
- Interconnect feasibility
- Power offtake and marketing
- Permitting
- Project management
- Landfills & brownfield sites
- CERCLA & RCRA sites
- Geotechnical & engineering calculations
PVNavigator, LLC is committed to having zero accidents, maintaining the health & safety of our employees, preventing any harm to those who may be affected by our projects, and protecting the environment.
PVNavigator, LLC also draws upon the technical and financial resources of European partner BREG Resources. PVN and BREG’s complementary skills and capabilities are developing utility scale PV solar projects, nationwide.
The PVN + BREG Team is developing significant PV projects (see map) nationwide on sites sourced via Project Navigator, Ltd. and PNL’s clients and partners.
News
PNL staff discuss the development of PV solar installations to the 30 member companies in the Surplus Property Roundtable
March 10, 2023
Project Navigator, Ltd. (PNL) staff discussed the company’s work in PV solar development initiatives with PVNavigator, LLC, and the BREG Group (Belgium), at the Spring 2023 meeting of the Surplus Property Roundtable. The presentation covered the two parallel broad tracks of PV solar development initiatives, namely (a) environmental permitting activities, running in parallel with (b) interconnection feasibility and power purchase agreement sourcing. The presentation can be viewed here.
PVNavigator, LLC with Belgian renewables development partner, BREG, signs land leases at four former IT Corp. landfill sites in the San Francisco, East Bay area
August 1, 2022
PVNavigator, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Project Navigator, Ltd., working in partnership with the Belgian Renewable Energy Group (BREG) has signed long-term land leases at four former, closed IT Corp. landfill sites. The sites are under the OM&M management of the IT Environmental Liability Liquidating Trust (ITELT).
PV Modules to Malawi, Africa
August 23, 2021 
Moving Windmills Solar Installation
Project Navigator, Ltd. (PNL) was approached by a client who had 15,000 photovoltaic (PV) solar modules in storage in California and was seeking a plan to donate the functionable, but dated, modules.
Planning Landfill Solar Projects
November 12, 2019Planning for landfill design and operations to accommodate every stage of a facility’s life and beyond takes foresight.
Put That Brownfield to Work
September 2014Based on a partnership with Chevron, a California-based firm helps companies and communities turn mountains of garbage into fields of wattage.
Contact
14891 Yorba Street
Tustin, CA 92780
15990 N. Barkers Landing Rd., Suite 325
Houston, TX 77079
Downloads & Project Content
- Renewable Energy Development on Landfills and Brownfields: New Opportunities and Issues, CCLR Meeting, Vista, CA, May 2017
- Brightfields Panel, CCLR Meeting, Carson, CA – Oct 2018
- Milliken Landfill PV Solar Project Summary
- Video: Milliken Landfill PV Solar Construction
- Meeting Renewable Energy Needs: Converting Worthless Property to Worthwhile, University of Houston, Technology Leadership & Innovation Management Program – Nov 2022