McCarthy Building Companies recently completed construction of the Turquoise Solar Project in Washoe County, Nevada.

The 61-MW solar farm is located on approximately 180 acres in the Reno Technology Park — a 2,200-acre industrial park shared

between Apple and Turquoise Solar, who own approximately 1,600 and 600 acres, respectively. The solar project supplies power to Apple’s data center within the Park.

Construction of the project began in November 2019 and created 236 clean energy craft worker construction jobs, over 90% of which were filled by Nevada residents.

Much of the Solar Project is located on rocky desert terrain with slopes ranging from 10% – 30%, which presented a unique engineering challenge.

McCarthy, which served as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor on the project, partnered with TerraSmart to design and engineer

a plan for the site. The approach had the support of in-house and external consultants and hinged on TerraSmart’s fixed-tilt racking system, which utilizes ground screw foundations.

The system proved more than up to the terrain and was able to handle drilling into the site’s rocks, hills, and arduous soils. Through the collaboration, McCarthy and TerraSmart

saved time and costs by minimizing clearing and civil work on the project, which also involved the installation and wiring of 156,000 9BB 450W Mono Half Cut Solar modules.

“Thanks to the collaborative partnership with TerraSmart, this was another project where our team could design and engineer a solution for a solar project that had

very unique terrain challenges,” said Scott Canada, senior vice president of McCarthy’s Renewable Energy Group. “We are also grateful to the exceptional local craft

workforce for their ability to work safely and efficiently during these challenging times. Their efforts ensured the commission of the Turquoise Solar Project,

allowing for the generation of clean energy to power Apple’s data center.”