Despite cold and challenging winter weather, construction has continued at Alliant Energy’s Wautoma Solar site. The project team recently marked two significant construction milestones as workers make noticeable progress.
With the exception of a small parcel near the airport awaiting final permitting approval, crews completed pile installation on site in mid-December. Having installed nearly 100% of the site’s 44,000 steel piles, workers continue to install the tracking system which consists of long metal racking tubes placed horizontally across the piles to hold the solar panels. The tubes are then connected to a series of gearboxes and electric motors to allow the rows of panels to rotate throughout the day following the movement of the sun.
Also in December, workers installed the first solar panels on site. Over the coming months, the project team will install nearly 240,000 panels which measure roughly 3.5 feet wide by 7.5 feet tall each and consist mainly of glass, silicon and aluminum framing. The panels installed at this site are “bifacial” – meaning they absorb direct sunlight on the front of the panel while the back side of the panel absorbs light reflected off the ground. This feature improves efficiency and helps to maximize energy production.
Panel and tracking system installation will continue for the next several months. Overall, construction of the Wautoma Solar Project is more than 25% complete.
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An aerial view of the first solar panels installed on site (12.16.22) -
The crew that installed the last pile in the main project area (12.15.22)