Solar Power, Inc. will install a 5 megawatt photovoltaic rooftop installation on White Rose, Inc.’s food warehouse in New Jersey. This is a megawatt-sized major project the California-based company has in the Northeast.

Construction on the White Rose project will start later this month. With completion expected in the second half of 2011. The system will be owned and operated through a joint venture of NuGen Capital Management, LLC and KDC Solar LLC. White Rose is a distributor for supermarkets along the east coast, serving more than 1,000 stores.

Solar Power will design, engineer and construct the solar installation using its SkyMount racking system and its HatJack mounting system.

The systems are designed for minimal rooftop penetration, said Mike Anderson, Solar Power vice president of marketing.

“We believe one of the major reasons we got [the project] is because of our product,” he said.

He explained that the company works with roofing manufacturers to match the materials they use to bond roofing materials to its SkyMount system to roofs with its HatJack system.

Solar Power has made other installations on the East coast, Anderson said, but none are as large as the White Rose project.

“The important thing about this project, on the whole, is that it gives us an entrance into this market, which is an important market in the united states,” he said.

He added that it also was the first project the company has had in New Jersey, which is the second-largest market for solar in the country, behind California.

The company has designed other large-scale solar rooftop projects, like the 512 kilowatt photovoltaic installation at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, home to the L.A. Lakers, the L.A. Kings and the L.A. Clippers.

“It’s a high profile project and is highly visible,” Anderson said.

The White Rose project is not the first time the Solar Power has installed a megawatt-sized array. The company installed a 6 megawatt system for Aerojet in Folsom, Calif.

That project is a ground-based project that covers 40 acres.

According to Solar Power, the facility was built at an EPA brownfield site and intended to offset electricity costs associated with a water remediation program and manufacturing operations.

Image courtesy of Solar Power Inc.