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Final Landfill Cover, Solar

MIRA Hartford Landfill

Hartford, CT

Owned by the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA), the state-of-the-art 39-acre and one megawatt Solar Electricity Generating Facility (Solar EGF) is the first in Connecticut to use the ClosureTurf® system and the first to generate solar power.

ClosureTurf was chosen as the final cap system because of numerous environmental benefits, including having only 18% of the carbon footprint of a traditional vegetative cover. It conserved 100,000 cubic yards of clean, virgin soil that would have been required and eliminated 18,000 truck trips that would have been needed to deliver the soil onto the site. ClosureTurf also eliminated the potential impacts of slope erosion on the surrounding community, which consisted of many thriving businesses.

ClosureTurf® eliminates impacts of slope erosion on the surrounding community while also providing significantly cleaner water runoff, reducing the potential for pollution of the Connecticut River.
ClosureTurf® eliminates impacts of slope erosion on the surrounding community while also providing significantly cleaner water runoff, reducing the potential for pollution of the Connecticut River.

By utilizing ClosureTurf as a foundation for solar, the state was able to turn an unusable space into an environmental asset that, at peak, powers about 1,000 homes per day. The engineered synthetic turf system allows the solar panels to operate in a clean and easily accessible environment free of dust, grass clippings and potential damage from lawn mowing equipment for the highest possible efficiency.

At peak capacity, the solar landfill is expected to power 1,000 homes per day.

As acknowledgment for their innovative approach, MIRA and Fuss & O’Neill was awarded a SWANA Excellence Award in the category of Landfill Redevelopment.

Solar panels operate free of dust, grass clippings and damage from mowing equipment.
Solar panels operate free of dust, grass clippings and damage from mowing equipment.

When we began working with the City of Hartford on the future of the landfill, we wanted to find innovative ways to use the land. Solar energy was an idea we all agreed on right away.

Thomas Dirk
MIRA Hartford President
Project Type MSW Landfill with Solar
Owner State of Connecticut
Engineer Fuss and O'Neil
Contractor New England Liner Systems, Inc.
Size 39 Acres
Date Completed 2014