ForeFront Power announced the commercial operation of its first solar energy system using Erthos Earth Mount Solar technology at the Northeast Surface Water Treatment Plant operated by the City of Fresno in the U.S. state of California. The system uses panels mounted directly on the ground instead of traditional steel structures, reducing project development costs and helping the city obtain electricity at a lower price.
ForeFront Power owns the system and sells electricity to the City of Fresno under a 20-year power purchase agreement, enabling the city to pay a fixed rate below the utility's price. The company contacted Erthos in 2023 after inflation rates and supply chain disruptions increased labor and material costs, making the deployment of a conventional solar system at the site more expensive.
What Changes Practically in the Project Design?
Erthos technology eliminates the need to purchase and install the steel used in conventional ground-mount systems and also helped ForeFront Power avoid costly civil upgrades at the project site. The company says these savings enabled the project to move forward and allowed part of them to be passed on to the City of Fresno through a lower electricity price.
The Earth Mount Solar structure enables panels to be installed flat on the ground while adapting to terrain with slopes of up to 15%. The technology also does not require the usual spacing between rows of panels, giving it a higher energy-production density per acre, according to the information provided in the announcement.
System Performance and the Scope of Fresno Projects
The system entered commercial operation in late March 2026 and has since achieved average output equivalent to 101% of the expected energy. It has also already delivered 862 megawatt-hours to the City of Fresno. ForeFront Power and Erthos continue to work on improving the system's performance, while the two companies said the initial results are encouraging.
The project is part of a broader portfolio of solar energy and battery storage projects developed by ForeFront Power for Fresno's public utilities across three sites: the Northeast Surface Water Treatment Plant, the Southeast Surface Water Treatment Plant, and the Fresno-Clovis Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility. The projects have a combined capacity of 27 megawatts DC and are expected to save more than $122 million in ratepayer funds by 2045.
Maintenance Using an Autonomous Robot
Under the energy services agreement between ForeFront Power and Erthos, Erthos maintains the system, including periodic panel cleaning using the ErthBot robot. The robot uses a dry nylon brush, and each unit can clean more than 3.5 megawatts DC of panels.
ErthBot operates as needed at night and returns to the charging station after completing the task, ready for use the following night. Erthos operates and maintains the robot under its agreement with ForeFront Power. Thus, the project combines lower construction costs, a high-density design, and a dedicated maintenance mechanism—factors the two companies say helped provide lower-cost energy to the City of Fresno.