D3Energy Energizes Ohio’s Largest Floating Solar Array

Key Takeaways

• D3Energy energized a 6-megawatt floating solar array on the Village of Monroeville’s reservoir in Ohio.
• It is Ohio’s largest floating solar system and among the five largest in the United States.
• The array spans 9,222 modules across three floating islands on 12 acres of water.
• A ground-mounted version would have required about 30 acres of farmland.
• Monroeville, population 1,300, now has roughly 13 times more solar capacity per capita than the rest of Ohio.

D3Energy Completes a 6-Megawatt Floating Array

D3Energy has energized a 6-megawatt floating solar array on the drinking-water reservoir of Monroeville, Ohio, a village of about 1,300 residents. The system is Ohio’s largest floating solar installation and ranks among the five largest in the country.

Water Instead of Farmland

The array uses 9,222 modules mounted on three floating islands, covering 12 acres of water the village already owned. Built on land, it would have needed roughly 30 acres of farmland, a trade-off that has drawn attention as solar competes with agriculture for space.

“Solar needs space, and in farm country there’s no such thing as spare ground. Monroeville had water sitting right there doing one job. Now it does two,” said Stetson Tchividjian, Managing Director of D3Energy.

A Small Village’s Big Solar Footprint

Combined with a 4-megawatt ground-mounted array operating since 2017, Monroeville now has about 13 times more solar capacity per capita than the rest of Ohio. Gardner Capital owns the system and sells its output to the village under a long-term power purchase agreement, with Appalachian Renewable Power serving as the Ohio-based contractor.

Tchividjian credited the village’s leadership for getting the project built. “None of this happens without Monroeville’s forward-thinking leadership. Tom Gray, the recently retired village administrator, drove this project from the first conversation to the day it energized. This one is his,” he said.

What the Project Means for D3Energy

It is D3Energy’s third Ohio project, part of nearly 10 megawatts of floating solar the state now hosts. The developer previously delivered the Del-Co Water floating solar array in Ohio in 2023 and a floating array at the City of Lima’s Twin Lakes Reservoir, building a portfolio anchored on municipal water bodies where usable land is scarce or costly. The company says it has built more than half of all floating photovoltaic systems now operating in the United States, a position it is extending as utilities and municipalities increasingly look to reservoirs and retention ponds to host solar without giving up farmland or open space. iGrow News covers solar developments on its solar energy news hub and explores the land-use question in Is Agrivoltaics the Future of Farming?