Three months ago, Stonegates retirement community in Delaware overcame the problem of a 62,000-square-foot flat roof by installing 785 specially designed solar panels by Fremont, California-based Solyndra.

The solar installation is remarkable for two things: Stonegates is the first retirement community in the state (and one of the first in the nation) to install solar panels, and the panels themselves are a unique design by Solyndra that allows for greater capture of solar irradiance on flat or low-slope roofs.

Solyndra, founded in 2005, uses thin-film CIGS (copper, indium, gallium and selenide) technology and cylindrical modules to create this greater efficiency. The principle is quite simple. A conventional solar panel is flat, collecting solar energy only when the sun is 180 degrees relative to the panel.

Solyndra’s cylinders, or tubes, catch not only direct solar radiance across the entire top and sides of the tube (think of a bottle lying on its side) but diffuse sunlight at the sides where the tubes come together, and reflected light near the base (see diagram below) thanks to a 360-degree photovoltaic surface.

Solyndra operates a cutting-edge, 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to produce these tubular solar panels, which – because of their curved surfaces – can be spaced more closely than conventional panels, thus maximizing roof space. The panels are also lightweight, allowing spacing that permits wind to blow through, rather than at. This eliminates the need for ballast and complex mounting hardware.

For Stonegates, the installation represents not only the first retirement community installation in the state, but the largest private solar system, delivering 14,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity every month, which prevents more than 10 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being generated by regional electric utility Delmarva Power, which – under Delaware’s renewable portfolio standard, or RPS – is required to generate at least 20 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2019, with at least two percent of that total from solar photovoltaics (SB 19).

The state operates its RPS through renewable energy credits, or RECs, tracked via PJM-EIS Generation Attributes Tracking System, or GATS. PJM EIS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PJM Technologies, Inc., an energy solutions and technology company formed by PJM, the Independent System Operator (ISO) for the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. An ISO monitors and coordinates the flow of electricity within a state, or area, and sometimes acts as a wholesale electricity marketer.

Stonegates reduced carbon footprint, thanks to its solar PV installation, is the equivalent of removing almost two vehicles from state roads every month, or planting 258 trees. The community also expects to save about $25,000 a year based on former electric bills. System costs approached $930,000 but federal funding, under ARRA, provided 30 percent and a state grant covered 25 percent. The Solyndra panels also have a 25-year guarantee, and a kiosk inside the building where they are installed provides real-time information on how much energy is being produced and how much carbon dioxide prevented as a result.