Solar on cusp of breakthrough
At Temple Beth El in northern Stamford, a solar installation firm is putting the finishing touches on what may be one of the largest solar photovoltaic systems ever installed on a U.S. house of worship.
The 845-panel, 218-kilowatt system ”” which will satisfy 70 percent of the synagogue”™s annual electric needs ”” is part of a broader project aimed at energy savings and environmental sustainability.
The Temple Beth El project, built around the theme “our journey to green,” has already included the replacement of old light fixtures with more efficient bulbs that are linked to motion sensors; upgrades to the building”™s motors and pumps systems; and the installation of a white energy-smart roof that reflects the sun”™s rays and keeps the building cooler.
“For us it”™s a matter of following our vision of sustainability,” Steven Lander, executive director of Temple Beth El, said of the project, which began about a year ago. “We want the Earth to be here for our children.”
Among homeowners and businesses that have bought into solar, environmental sustainability remains a driving theme. But increasingly, the motivation is a different kind of green.
Asked whether solar is now seen as a business investment rather than purely being valued for its environmental attributes, Tony Eason of Elektron Solar L.L.C., said, “That”™s the way we sell it.”
“There”™s the initial upfront cost, you can see your operating costs moving forward, it”™s very stable, it”™s projectionable,” said Eason, founder of the Westport solar installation firm. “We”™re able to say, ”˜Here”™s what the system will cost, here”™s what it”™ll produce,”™ and all that is done before a penny is spent. … When we sell it, we sell it looking at the financials first, then we start layering on all the other benefits.”
Creative financing
Installers and system owners queried by the Business Journal said solar is made even more attractive in Connecticut given the state”™s high utility rates.
For its part, the state has recognized that it must create opportunities for consumer energy savings, lest it lose residents and businesses. Through a variety of loans, grants and tax credits for the installation of solar photovoltaic, solar thermal and other environmentally friendly energy systems and retrofits, installation firms have seen demand for such projects increase dramatically.
Additionally, a number of private corporations as well as the state government, through its Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA), now offer programs that allow homeowners and businesses to lease solar systems, giving them the benefits of cheaper, cleaner power at little or no upfront cost.
“I think we”™re on the cusp of having some major adoption (of solar) going forward with some of the programs the state has put together,” said Craig Harrigan, commercial solar consultant with Encon Inc., a solar and HVAC firm based in Stratford.
Harrigan said the solar push began with municipalities looking for savings but unable to monetize tax incentives available for retrofits and renewable energy installations. Instead, towns began to seek energy developers who would finance the installations and sell the energy that was generated to the towns themselves under power purchase agreements.
“That adoption by the municipalities really helped to spur a lot of the corporate interest right now,” Harrigan said. “Municipalities have talked to other municipalities in different states and done their due diligence and that”™s given confidence to businesses to come in and look at these systems.”
A combination of creative financing and public-private collaboration made the Temple Beth El upgrades and solar installation possible.
The project was hatched when Elliot Isban, a member of the congregation and CEO of American Solar & Alternative Power L.L.C. in Stamford, approached Lander and the board of trustees to see if there was any interest in a lighting upgrade.
An energy audit was subsequently undertaken along with Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P), the synagogue”™s electric provider, and various opportunities for upgrades were identified.
“Being a faith-based institution, a not-for-profit, we”™re always having to look at where the money”™s going to come from,” Lander said. “They (CL&P) came to us and said, ”˜Here”™s what we can do for you.”™”
Because of the energy efficient nature of the retrofits, Temple Beth El was eligible for incentives in the form of grants and tax credits from the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund. The synagogue also took out a $200,000 private loan and is in the midst of a fundraising campaign.
Additionally, Temple Beth El bid on and was selected to participate in the Zero-Emission Renewable Energy Credit (ZREC) program, which was created in July 2011 along with the Low-Emission Renewable Energy Credit (LREC) program. Both ZREC and LREC are administered by CL&P and United Illuminating Co. (UI), the state”™s other investor-owned electric utility.
The programs calls for funds derived from ratepayers”™ electric bills to be used to incentivize the construction of Class I renewable energy generators such as solar, wind, hydro and fuel cells.
Customers such as Temple Beth El that install qualifying generators have the opportunity to sell Connecticut Class I renewable energy credits, which are created from their projects, to CL&P and UI under 15-year contracts. Winners of the contracts are chosen through a bidding process.
The solar system ”” easily the costliest component of the project ”” was financed by Altus Power Management L.L.C., an Old Greenwich firm that invests in, owns and operates clean energy projects.
Altus will own the 218-kilowatt system being installed at Temple Beth El and will receive the ZREC credits, with the synagogue essentially leasing the system under a 25-year power purchase agreement. Temple Beth El will then have the option to buy the system outright from Altus.
The building upgrades and solar system installation were all done by American Solar & Alternative Power.
“With these projects, the first motivation really is to say, ”˜Hey, is sustainability cost effective?”™” Isban said. “The idea of creating energy from the sun is very easy to understand. People get that, but then they want to know, can we afford to do it? So the economic component certainly becomes the driving force behind it.”
Isban said the reduced operating expenses justify the effort and outreach that one does to create sustainability. At Temple Beth El, “the initial projection is to save initially $31,000 a year in operating expenses. So that”™s a pretty good motivation.”