Solar plans sail ahead
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
8/22/2010

The Cherry Hill Council is moving forward with plans to install a new solar power system on the roof of the Department of Public Works, just last week approving a bid to a company for the project.

The council unanimously awarded the contract to Bancroft Construction for more than $783,000. The township has $1.3 million in federal and state grants for use toward the project. The project will begin immediately, according to Mayor Bernie Platt.

“My administration and I have been exploring options and planning for a shift to renewable energy at municipal facilities for several years now,” he said. “Mounting a 100kW solar array on the roof of Town Hall has long appealed to me in that regard, and with the vast majority of funding for it allotted from the state Office of Clean Energy’s CORE Rebate Program, along with additional support directed at the project from the federal Department of Energy, this important township sustainability initiative is slated to come to fruition by the end of the year.”

The system will no longer be installed on the top of township hall, as it was originally planned, but will be constructed on the roof the Cherry Hill Department of Public Works building. Township hall had too much shade cover to be a beneficial location for the solar panels, representatives reported.

The DPW building is a much better location, Platt reported.

Once operational, the 100kW solar-panel system will transform energy from the sun into electricity, which will off-set more than a third of the facility’s electricity usage on average.

Platt said that between utility savings and revenue from the sale of any excess power generation in the form of Solar Renewable Energy Credits the township will realize more than $50,000 in benefits from the project annually.

“But, this renewable-energy development – and a smaller, 30kW solar system planned as part of a clean-power demo site at Town Hall – means much more to this community than the ‘win-win’ combo of ongoing savings and a new stream of revenue. It represents a momentous municipal move closer to operational sustainability, and it is a visible symbol of the township’s commitment to creating a green future for Cherry Hill.”

Council Vice President Sara Lipsett congratulated the township on finally realizing its plan to install a solar panel system.

It will be beneficial not only for the township monetarily, but also environmentally she said.

“We have taken the first step in the right direction to fulfill our obligations with our sustainability goals,” she said.