Even Small Towns Are Looking to Go Solar Power

solar.coolerplanet.com
August 24, 2009

In New York State, two smallish towns are taking on the big task of promoting solar energy, which may be the nation's salvation now that even Oil Drum experts are talking Peak Oil by 2015.

In Colonie, population 8,591 (as of July 2008), the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) is offering to pay up to $25,000 for businesses to install solar energy arrays. With perhaps a dozen firms competing for the privilege – the much-larger Albany is only few miles away – the outlay is unlikely to be significant, but the very fact that the town is thinking solar is a sign that America's energy paradigm has shifted, albeit subtly, from fossil fuels to "clean" energy alternatives like solar.

The program is the brainchild of IDA member Kenneth Champagne, who noted that clean energy incentives were necessary to promote interest in solar, since the payback time is so long; 10 to 15 years, by his estimate, though without incentives (and as the price of photovoltaics rise again, post-recession) these payback times can top 35 years.

The Colonie IDA, which got itself in regulatory hot water in 2008 over failure to file past budgets and the 2006 annual report, is part of a state system of industrial development entities set up in 1969 via New York State legislative action designed to facilitate economic development in regional areas. The IDAs are set up as public benefit corporations, and subject to oversight by state agencies.

In addition to funding from the Colonie IDA, the town could also look to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, which provides a program that helps businesses switch to solar energy. Under the odd heading PON 1050, this Solar Electric Incentive Program provides cash incentives to those wishing to switch over all or some of their electricity usage from a regional utility to "home-grown" solar.

With $2 million in fees and interest still remaining in the Colonie IDA budget from a prior administration, $250,000 – or enough to fund 10 business applications of solar energy - has been allocated for the solar energy portion of the IDA's program, according to Champagne.

In Clifton Park, population 36,279, the town government is taking a different tack toward promoting solar energy. It wants to put solar panels on the roof of the highway department garage, which is currently used to store vehicles but could – if solar energyed – also be used to repair them.

The project is estimated to cost $280,000, with more than half coming from a grant by the U.S. Department of Energy and the balance from NYSERDA, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA. A final five%, or $14,000, would come from the town's budget. If only one grant is available, Clifton Park officials will have to downgrade the system, borrow more from city funds or abandon its plans altogether.

With an estimated annual production of 42,000 kW hours (rated as a 33-kW system), the solar array will provide the equivalent of enough electricity to run 3.5 households.