News Focus: Utilizing innovative ballasted foundation technology to transform abandoned landfills into high-value clean energy assets.

NEW YORK, July 26, 2023 – To address the growing challenge of land scarcity for renewable energy, Polar Racking, a leading North American provider of solar mounting solutions, today announced it has been awarded a contract by independent power producer SolarBank Corporation to supply its CORE fixed-tilt ground mounting system along with ballasted foundations for two large-scale PV projects in Upstate New York (Manlius and Geddes). The two projects have a total capacity of 10 MWdc.

The project highlights an important trend in solar development: converting “brownfield” sites, often constrained by subsidence risks, into productive energy assets. Traditional installation methods typically require pile driving, which can puncture landfill liners. Polar Racking’s innovative ballasted solution eliminates any ground penetration, using the weight of concrete blocks to firmly secure the racking system, thereby overcoming this key technical challenge.

“We selected Polar Racking’s ground-mount solution because of its innovative and proven engineering,” said Andrew van Doorn, Chief Operating Officer of SolarBank. “Companies like Polar Racking are expanding the boundaries of where we can safely build large-scale solar projects, supporting our goal to drive the energy transition.”

Under the agreement, Polar Racking will not only supply the equipment but also handle the full mechanical installation for both projects. The company has extensive experience in brownfield development, having previously provided similar ballasted mounting solutions for the Deerfoot and Barlow projects in Calgary, Alberta (totaling 92.5 MW).

“Polar Racking is thrilled to supply and construct these two landfill solar projects in New York for a customer with whom we have worked on over 20 projects,” commented Vishal Lala, Managing Partner of Polar Racking. “This demonstrates our strong commitment to brownfield redevelopment and delivering high‑quality solutions that meet the evolving needs of the solar industry.”

As the U.S. solar market expands, ballasted mounting solutions are becoming the technology of choice for many distributed generation and community solar projects due to their zero ground disturbance, fast installation, and adaptability to complex terrain. Polar Racking has delivered over 3 GW of mounting solutions in North America and has a project pipeline of 3.4 GW.

About Polar Racking
Founded in 2009, Polar Racking is a leading North American manufacturer and supplier of solar mounting systems, offering a full range of products including the CORE fixed‑tilt racking and ballasted foundations, known for their robustness, fast installation, and adaptability to challenging terrain.

About SolarBank
SolarBank Corporation is an independent renewable and clean energy project developer focused on distributed and community solar projects in the United States and Canada.