Andover Regional School District awards solar contract

Andover Regional School District awards solar contract

BY JEFF SISTRUNK

jsistrunk@njherald.com

The Andover Regional Board of Education voted to award the contract for the installation of solar panel systems at the district's schools during its regular session Tuesday.

Largo, Fla.-based firm Solar Source, in conjunction with Mount Laurel's New Age Energy, will oversee the installation of a combination of roof- and ground-mounted solar arrays at both the Florence M. Burd School and the Long Pond School. The 15-year arrangement between the companies and the district is a power purchase agreement, meaning that the companies will pay the cost of installation and retain ownership of any Solar Renewable Energy Credits generated while selling the electricity from the systems to the schools at a reduced rate.

For every megawatt hour of electricity produced by a solar system, the owner receives a Solar Renewable Energy Credit. These credits can in turn be sold to energy providers for profit.

The proposal drafted by Solar Source/New Age Energy was selected from a field of proposals submitted to the district by about a dozen companies.

"This is a big win for our school district," said Terry Van Auken, school board business administrator. "We're very excited."

The two schools currently pay about 17 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity. With the new solar installations in place, that cost should drop by more than 50 percent, to about 7.5 cents per kilowatt hour, said Mark Maher, the national representative for Solar Source.

An 861 kilowatt capacity system will be installed at Long Pond School, while a 253 kilowatt capacity system will be installed at Florence M. Burd School. The panels will be single-axis tracking panels, meaning they are capable of tracking the movement of the sun. Such panels can produce up to 30 percent more power than stationary or non-tracking panels, Maher said.

Construction is tentatively set to begin in May and conclude by the end of the summer.

In its 26 years of existence, Solar Source has installed about 40,000 solar systems, Maher said.

Also included in the district's energy conservation plans are an overhaul of the Long Pond School's roof and the replacement of some of that building's windows. These enhancements will save the schools more money on heating bills by maximizing energy efficiency and improving the school's insulation, said Robert Zmijewski, the director of operations for Cherry Hill's Armm Associates. Major improvements on the roof are necessary to make it a viable location to install solar panels, he said.

Armm Associates evaluated Long Pond School's roof and windows and designed the replacements and also helped the district draft the request for proposals for the power purchase agreement.

As part of the agreement with Andover Regional, Solar Source/New Age Energy will pay for the new roof, which will be put in place by Jottan Inc. after the end of the 2010-2011 school year.

"There will be a tremendous savings to the taxpayer," said Michael Betsch, chief executive officer for New Age Energy. "The school will no longer be encumbered by the cost of a new roof, and there will be substantial energy savings."

Van Auken said that the solar panels will have a strong educational aspect. Various data related to the units, including energy savings and reductions in carbon and nitrogen output, will be available on an online database that can be easily accessed by teachers, students and local taxpayers.