United States-based Recurrent Energy recently installed 4.8 megawatts (MWs) of photovoltaic (PV) modules on Spanish warehouse rooftops in under a year. The San Francisco-based company specializes in larger-scale distributed PV generation projects geared toward utilities, governments, and commercial sector needs. The company began the project in September 2009.

Recurrent reached an agreement with European-based ProLogis Renewable Energy and ProLogis European Properties (PEPR), one of Europe’s largest owners of modern distribution facilities, last September to install PV on eight of PEPR’s facilities in Madrid and Barcelona. Recurrent quickly began work and completed the installation in less than a year.

“We were able to develop and deliver a portfolio of commercial rooftop PV systems in a short timeframe, which is one of the strengths of a distributed generation model,” said Karl Knight, Recurrent’s managing director of international development. “The Spanish government policies that support clean energy helped spur the development of these projects that are now delivering a large amount of solar energy right where it’s needed most.”

Under the agreement Recurrent made with PEPR, Recurrent is leasing the space on eight of PEPR’s warehouse rooftops. PEPR has more than 450 million square feet of warehouse rooftops throughout the world, according to Recurrent. And PEPR now has 11 MWs operating on its rooftops.

Recurrent financed the PV installations and owns and operates them. It sells the energy produced to local utilities through a feed-in tariff awarded to Recurrent in July 2009.

With the addition of the PEPR rooftops, Recurrent said it now has 1.3 gigawatts (1,300 MWs) of distributed generation PV projects in development throughout North America and Europe.

Recurrent said it specializes in projects between 2 MWs and 20 MWs because they generally receive quicker approvals than larger projects do.

“Solar projects can be sized to fit the existing transmission capacity on the grid which further accelerates approval,” said Knight. The company added that it focuses on placing plants in areas including “brownfield land, industrial, and previously disturbed land, parking lots, and industrial rooftops.”