Stone Harbor to put sun to work at Public Works

#49 1/15/09,By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, 609 463 6713

Published: Thursday, January 15, 2009


STONE HARBOR - The sun in this sandy resort will produce enough energy to operate much of the borough's Public Works building.
Stone Harbor will accept bids next week to install its first solar panels on a municipal building.

The panels will generate about 60,000 kilowatt hours per year, said Annina Hogan, of engineering firm Remington, Vernick & Walberg.

The 286 panels will be on the roof of the Public Works building on 81st Street and will not be visible from the ground, Hogan said.

Borough Administrator Kenneth Hawk said the project is expected to cost between $300,000 and $400,000. The borough is receiving a state rebate of $158,800 for the solar panels, he said.

Depending on the bids that come back, the solar panels could pay for themselves in six to eight years, Hawk said.
The solar panel installation is scheduled to be finished by October.

"We evaluated this whole thing. The payback that we see is probably going to happen in six years, so it was worth the money," Hawk said. "It's a positive environmental thing we want to do."

If successful, the solar project could expand to other borough-owned buildings, including Borough Hall, Hawk said.

The borough budgets $93,100 for electric bills and another $92,000 per year for street lights, Hawk said.

The borough also could sell Solar Renewable Energy Certificates under a state program that requires electric suppliers to invest in solar energy. The suppliers can buy certificates from solar energy producers, including municipalities.

Stone Harbor is the latest Cape May County municipality to look to the sun to power their buildings.

West Cape May put solar panels on its Borough Hall. Last year, Ocean City put solar panels on several municipal buildings as well.

The city of Cape May is talking about putting solar panels on Conventional Hall.