Solar installation

9,000 panels over 10 acres

Powering 500 properties

Construction

Ties to Bronx schools

By Rahwa Ghirmatzion

Thursday, July 19, is a great day for energy democracy.

On Buffalo’s West Side, neighbors are cutting a ribbon on a once-abandoned public school, and reopening it as a freshly renovated and energy-efficient building, partially powered by solar panels on the roof. School 77 now houses 30 units of affordable housing for seniors, meeting space for the community and offices for local nonprofits.

A few years ago, neighbors feared gentrification might claim the building. Instead, community members – low-income and working-class people of color – decided they wanted affordable, attractive, energy-efficient housing for the neighborhood. They wanted community solar power. They wanted a building that would serve the community. They joined forces with us at PUSH Buffalo, raised money, worked hard and delivered exactly what they wanted.

School 77 is a textbook example of energy democracy, which aims to advance equitable and sustainable economic development that includes everyone, regardless of how much they make or where they live, as we move to 100 percent renewable energy. The world is facing a new energy era. The technology for producing energy from the sun, the wind and other clean sources is getting cheaper and cheaper.

Renewables’ share of electricity generation is growing fast, while centralized fossil-fueled power plants are becoming less viable. In that energy transition lies opportunity, and it’s important to make sure that its benefits don’t just enrich corporations and utilities, but also flow to regular, everyday New Yorkers like the people behind School 77.

School 77 is also a great example of a community solar project. Residents can subscribe to power generated from the rooftop panels, and save money on their electric bills. Community solar offers a way for renters, low-income residents and others who don’t own a roof suitable for solar panels to benefit from the clean energy revolution. By joining community leadership with support from the state government, the City of Buffalo, nonprofits and businesses, School 77 has shown that community solar energy projects can work.

There’s one problem with School 77: It’s too rare. A state grant program to help community solar projects get started could help them proliferate. And a commitment to 100 percent clean, renewable energy could be a game-changer. Just think of all the vacant buildings and unused land, in Buffalo and across the state, that energy democracy could turn into productive community solar projects.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy rightly calls for building a clean, more resilient and affordable energy system for all. Community solar and energy democracy are key tools for realizing this vision. As we cut the ribbon on School 77, we hope for countless more ribbon-cuttings on projects like this one, in community after community, all across the state.

Rahwa Ghirmatzion is incoming executive director of People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) Buffalo.

By Adam Shanks, The Berkshire Eagle

NORTH ADAMS — The city has seen the light: Its 3.5-megawatt solar array is producing enough energy to meet all its municipal electricity needs.

In North Adams, that has not come as a surprise to anyone who helped plan the array. But the fact that the 6,000-panel installation — it was built in 2015 and covers 14 acres on a capped landfill — consistently is producing beyond original projections has forced city officials to make a few adjustments.

After covering its own electric bills, the city is sitting on unused net-metering credits valued at about $200,000 that it hopes to unload on other municipalities, according to City Administrative Officer Michael Canales.

“It’s a good problem to have in that we can sell [excess credits] back into the market. … It is just a procedural challenge to work through,” said Mayor Thomas Bernard.

At current electricity rates, the landfill array results in the city saving about 25 percent on its annual electric bill, which is now budgeted at about $380,000 annually. The credits cover everything from streetlights to the city’s skating rink.

The savings are courtesy of the net-metering process that allows a solar installation like the city’s to feed the energy it produces into the grid and receive credits in return.

In the case of the landfill array, Syncarpha Capital covered the $9 million cost of installation. Per a 20-year purchasing agreement, the city pays Syncarpha for the energy that is generated by the array at a rate cheaper than the standard commercial rate.

Currently, the city is buying electricity at a rate of $0.099 per kilowatt-hour, compared with the commercial rate of $0.1475 per kilowatt-hour.

Though the savings are real, the city’s budget hasn’t always immediately reflected them.

Because the city agreed in 2015 to buy all the credits produced at its landfill solar array, it has spent more than $500,000 on its electric bill in a single year.

“Any savings we would have seen in the budget [last year] were evaporated by too many credits,” Canales said.

The excess has been consistent enough for the city to reach out to other municipalities in hopes of finding a new home for unused credits. It cannot sell the credits to private entities.

“It’s not as though it’s a seamless situation like the household where you just run your meter backward and [excess] goes out into the market automatically,” Bernard said.

The city recently sold credits valued at $20,000 to the Hoosac Water Quality District for $14,776.

One partner, Methuen Public Schools, has bought credits valued at $94,000 in the past. The city now is hoping to strike a deal with the Methuen school district to sell it $100,000 worth of credits every year.

For North Adams, these deals offer a chance to recapture the money it spent buying credits it won’t use. For the partnering municipality, the deal is a chance to save 25 percent on a portion of its electricity costs.

Though the credits never expire, city officials are wary of allowing them to accumulate.

The city also bought into two 650-kilowatt installations erected in North Brookfield and Westminster that account for about 85 percent of the school department’s electricity usage, according to Canales.

Adam Shanks can be reached at ashanks@berkshireeagle.com, at @EagleAdamShanks on Twitter, or 413-629-4517.

Daily, it is estimated that over 100,000 people travel Highway 280. Many have likely noticed the highway’s newest neighbor, SouthPoint Bank, in place of the former Kobe restaurant. What they cannot see while driving is the solar power that SouthPoint Bank is harvesting. 

 

Eagle Solar & Light recently installed a 60-kilowatt solar system on the new bank. This system consists of two hundred and eight solar panels, or modules, and is designed to produce over 73,000 kilowatt hours of power annually. Solar power is not only good for the environment; it is also projected to save SouthPoint Bank over $10,000 per year on their utility bill. 

“When we began the design process for our new headquarters, we knew this building needed to not only serve our need for space, but also to better our efficiency. Early on we decided to incorporate modern,  to decrease our energy costs and make our contribution to environmental sustainability,” says SouthPoint Bank’s CEO Steve Smith. “At SouthPoint Bank, our goal is to look to the future and point forward with continuous improvement in technology. Utilizing solar energy within our corporate headquarters is one step toward achieving that goal.”

The solar panels selected by Eagle Solar & Light are produced in Jackson, Mississippi by Seraphim Solar. The use of American made solar panels defies the trend of using cheaper imported panels. Eagle Solar and Light trusts the quality of Seraphim Solar panels and backs their manufacturer’s 25-year warranty. Other American made components in this system are provided by SolarEdge and Snap’N’Rack.

“We were also able to meet our goal of supporting local companies by using a local contractor Eagle Solar & Light, plus using American solar panels rather than sourcing them from Asia,” says Smith. 

“Using American made products means a lot to us and our customers, and that is why whenever possible we source our products from American companies,” says Eagle Solar & Light CEO, Sam Yates. “We strive to meet the goals of every customer we serve.”

As one of the first solar companies to open in the central Alabama region, Eagle Solar & Light provides architecturally advanced, aesthetically designed solar electricity, LED lighting solutions and energy saving products that offer long-term economic benefits.