A 40-year-old family business in Ossining has installed solar panels on its 30,000-square-foot headquarters through a project facilitated by state and municipal sustainability programs.
Terra Tile & Marble, a fabrication plant, announced the completion of the installment at a September event attended by community leaders, business owners and the upfront financer of the project, Yorktown Heights-based Energize NY.
Energize NY Finance is the economic arm of the program, which is a nonprofit local development corporation supported by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, to help homeowners and business owners make energy saving decisions and investments.
Municipalities have to sign up to work with Energize NY. Eighteen municipalities in Westchester County, Ossining being one of the first, have signed with Energize NY with eight more in the process of joining.
Property Assessed Clean Energy is the model adopted by states and municipalities across the country, including New York”™s Energize program, to help the private businesses and individuals come up with long-term and affordable plans as well as available funds to pay for sustainable investments, like solar.
Through that financing model, Terra Tile will pay an annual charge on its property tax bill that will gradually repay the cost of the solar panels over time. The solar panels installed on the Terra Tile roof are expected to cover nearly 100 percent of the company”™s monthly energy costs, and this last month a spokeswoman with Energize NY said the company did not owe anything on its most recent bill.
