Farming Brimfield’s rocky field

We tend to think of tornados destroying parts fields of corn or sunflowers, leaving
farmers with the job of replanting. Sometimes they tearing apart buildings and knock
over trees, leaving people with the job of rebuilding. What happened in Brimfield,
Massachusetts on June 1, 2011 was a bit more powerful than usual, however. That
tornado ripped away all the topsoil from a large field, leaving the rocky subsoil that no crop would grow on. What do you do with that? The answer, as we can see, is to grow a field of solar panels, and enjoy the annual harvest they provide.

The 6.24 MW Brimfield, MA Solar Project is the largest ballasted ground system in Massachusetts. It was installed on land that was purchased economically due to the substantial tornado damage. The system was built using GameChange Racking’s Pour-in Place™ Ballasted Ground System, 22,000 solar panels and ten 500 kW inverters.

Shortly before 5 pm, the tornado moved through Brimfield, MA, where it reached its maximum width of 0.5 miles.

The 2011 New England tornado occurred on June 1st, 2011. It was te worst in a century in the region.

The site was prepared with minimal grading. The local economy was boosted by using local labor and adding tax revenue.

Due to the rocky site conditions, the GameChange Pour-in-Place™ Ballasted Ground System was selected as the most cost-effective solution.

GameChange Racking used their Pour-in-Place™ Ballasted Ground racking system for the installation of the 6.24 MW of solar PV panels. The panels from Canadian Solar were installed by Prostar Electric.

Photos & info courtesy of GameChange Racking. Learn more at gamechanegracking.com.