Photo courtesy McCarthy Building Cos.

Tilden Solar

Tilden, Ill.

BEST PROJECT

Submitted by: McCarthy Building Cos.

Owner: SOL Systems

Lead Design Firm, General Contractor: McCarthy Building Cos.

Structural Engineer: DLR Group

MEP Engineer: McCalmont Engineering

Spanning roughly 1,000 acres of reclaimed mining land on the site of a former coal mine, Tilden Solar transforms underused brownfield land into a facility powering more than 33,800 Illinois homes while creating long-term economic and community benefits.

Construction faced major challenges, including two 100-year floods, an ice storm, difficult site access, subsidence concerns and a last-minute module manufacturer change.

Photo courtesy McCarthy Building Cos.

The team maintained safety by pausing work during hazardous conditions, redesigning portions of the layout to eliminate highway crossings and adapting installation methods to accommodate new modules.

Photo courtesy McCarthy Building Cos.

The team used InSAR satellite monitoring for…