Elma Town Board Considers Installing Solar Power Panels
By Nancy Gish – - SOUTHTOWNS CORRESPONDENT- BFLO NEWS – Jan 16, 2010
The Elma Town Board on Wednesday heard a presentation from a solar panel consulting company seeking the town’s business to install solar panels on property behind Town Hall on Bowen Road.
Supervisor Michael Nolan initially asked the board to consider solar panels on the roof of Town Hall but TVGA, a local engineering company, suggested the panels be installed on the ground behind Town Hall.
Grant money is available for the project through stimulus aid and no town funds would be required. However, TVGA, which would build the infrastructure to contain the panels, suggested the town pay for 10 percent of the project to speed up the grant process.
The consulting company, NYSOL, would procure the products, do the grant writing and hire the installers.
The goal is to reduce Town Hall electrical use by 15 percent by 2015 while increasing renewable energy, promote climate protection and support green innovation and the economy. Excess power generated by the panels would go back into the grid, officials said during the board’s workshop session.
The town would see a $6,000 saving in its electric bill and reap renewable energy credits. The project would employ about 100 16-square-foot solar panels.
Nolan, long a proponent of the panels, said, “We need to be proactive with energy efficiency. It is a lot to gain for the local taxpayer. It’s an investment in the future.”
However, Councilman Dean Puleo is not so sure.
“The whole idea is very distasteful to me,” he said. “It is clearly not cost-effective and is a horrible investment. . . .”
He said the $120,000 cost would take the town 20 years to recoup at the estimated electrical savings of $6,000 a year.
The issue will be on the agenda when the board meets on Wednesday.
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