Village Will Save $40,000 In First Year
by Deb Alter
With the installation of the solar garden on the closed 27-acre landfill site at 9 Walnut Street near the Transfer Station complete, the Village of Hoosick Falls can begin saving money on its energy bill.
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Hoosick Falls officials were joined by County and NYSERDA officials, and Monolith Solar representatives and employees for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the site on Monday, November 16. Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino, Jeff Cleary from State Senator Kathy Marchione’s office, and Frank Mace from The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) were all on hand to celebrate the 1944-solar panel, 592-kilowatt photovoltaic solar array which will provide 60% of the Village’s electricity including the Village street lights, the pump station, and sewer account.
Speaking to the gathered crowd, Mayor Borge said that the site could not be built on for 75 years or more. “It wasn’t all landfill, but most of it was. It’s been properly covered and all of those things have been done, but what could you use it for? It makes sense to take this ‘dead land’ and turn it into something so useful.”
Cleary commended the Mayor and the Village for the “great use of land” and said, “this project is the perfect public-private partnership.” The NYSERDA representative said that this project “demonstrates Hoosick Falls’ commitment to sustainability.” He congratulated Hoosick Falls for continuing “to contribute to New York State’s commitment to building a self-sustaining solar industry and a comprehensive energy strategy.”
Jimino echoed these sentiments, adding, “it not only reuses otherwise unusable land, it also lowers taxes.” She said that there was a bigger picture to consider, too. “The world is in turmoil. This project helps all of us in that it helps us become less dependent on foreign oil.” The speakers agreed that Hoosick Falls was developing a reputation for being a green community.
Tim Carr, the Key Account Manager for Monolith on this project, said that they and the Village have been working together for three years and that Hoosick Falls is an innovator in using solar technology. He said that what Hoosick Falls is doing is an inspiration for other municipalities. He went on to say that New York State energy policies make sense and work, and “help to create real, well-paying jobs.”
The Hoosick Falls system takes advantage of New York State’s “remote net metering” policy, which allows for solar systems to feed electricity into the utility grid at a different location than the one where the electricity is being used, through meter credits. This arrangement allows for buildings that otherwise could not have accommodated an on-site solar system, perhaps due to shade or lack of available roof space, for example, to reap the benefits of this fast growing renewable energy technology.
The solar photovoltaic panels are wired into inverters that turn the DC power generated into AC power for connection into the utility network. To give an idea of how much energy this installation will generate, it is enough to power approximately 70 homes per year, a substantial reduction in the carbon footprint.
The contract that Monolith Solar provided the Village is called a “Power Purchase Agreement” (PPA), an arrangement in which Monolith Solar owns, operates and maintains the equipment installed, and sells all of the electricity generated at a discounted rate. This model incurs absolutely no cost to the Village for the installation of the system or its operation, and provides a substantial savings for many years to come. All of the electricity generated from the solar garden will produce monetary credits that will significantly offset electric costs to the Village of Hoosick Falls. The Mayor and Monolith say that it will save the Village about $40,000 per year and more than a million dollars over the next 20 years. NYSERDA provided $280,000 for the project through the NY-Sun initiative.
The Village of Hoosick Falls contracted with NYSERDA and Monolith Solar Associates, LLC to install and maintain its first “solar garden” in Hoosick Falls. Steven Erby, founder and Vice President of Monolith, said that he and company President and CEO Mark Fobare started the company in Erby’s garage in 2009. “People are realizing solar is here to stay,” Erby said. Aside from reducing the carbon footprint and his belief that we need to reduce, and eventually eliminate, our reliance on fossil fuels for environmental reasons, Erby said, “as a disabled veteran, I want this to work so that our young people don’t have to go overseas and lose life or limbs for oil.”
Erby said when people complain about how solar arrays effect the landscape, it’s because they are not used to it – yet. “They have no problem with looking at telephone poles and power lines, or breathing air polluted by fossil fuels, but that is because it is the norm. Eventually, this will become the norm.” He also feels that in the future, solar technology will develop so that arrays of this size will generate even more energy, and, in the same way that computers used to take up entire buildings and now we can hold them in the palm of our hand, the size of the solar equipment and its footprint will become smaller, too.[/private]