On Monday, February 15, the New England chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers highlighted Constellation Energy’s Two Patriot Place solar installation, naming it “the best renewable energy project in New England”.

Baltimore, Maryland-based Constellation Energy is a leading supplier of energy products and services to both the wholesale and retail electric and natural gas marketplace, and operates as Baltimore Gas and Electric, a regulated utility, in central Maryland. Constellation is also a distributed power generator, operating power plants throughout the U.S., in Alabama, California, Maryland, New York, Utah and Pennsylvania, as well as a natural gas peaking plant in Alberta, Canada.

In October of 2009, Constellation announced that it would, through its subsidiary (Constellation Energy Projects & Services Group), begin building a 525-kilowatt solar photovoltaic energy system at Two Patriot Place, a 1.3-million-square-foot entertainment, dining, retail and hotel facility next to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Also known simply as Patriot Place, the facility – which opened in phases beginning in 2008 – was constructed using sustainable building practices, including low-VOC- (volatile organic compound) emissions construction products, on-site wastewater recycling, solar-powered trash containers, and white roofs to reduce the “heat island” effect.

The Patriot Place solar installation, when finished, will span seven of the complex’s rooftops and supply about 30 percent of the power needed, while also preventing 8,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide. This is the same as removing 1,526 cars from American roads, or planting 204,698 trees.

Twenty eight hundred of the panels will be Evergreen Solar ES-A series panels, including those on the roof the The Hall, a Raytheon-sponsored sports and educational venue. The Evergreen panels will be visible to those attending sporting events at Gillette Stadium, as well as to visitors to the Patriot Place upper-level retail plaza.

Constellation Energy, whose generation mix is 45 percent nuclear, 32 percent coal, 19 percent natural gas and oil, and 5 percent renewables derived partly from 25 megawatts of solar installation in the U.S., is one of the “greenest” of American utilities, but the Patriot Place solar installation is a nice addition to that green portfolio.

The Association of Energy Engineers is a recognized and reliable source of information and networking for building sustainability, energy engineering and management, renewable and alternative energies, power generation, and energy services. Its goal, to foster action for sustainable development, is well served by activities that range from conferences and shows to seminars, publications, certifications and the granting of recognition for superior achievements in renewable technologies like solar energy.