Bright, sunny days mean more than just good weather for Niskayuna — now its energy costs are reduced, too.
Niskayuna Town Hall started receiving electricity through its recently installed solar panels, which are on posts along the far end of its parking lot. Monolith Solar Associates set up the panels at no cost to the town, with the project partially funded through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
The town is receiving 30 percent of the electricity produced from the panels, but the remaining 70 percent is sold back into the grid by Monolith.
“This is another major project of the Town of Niskayuna,” Supervisor Joe Landry said.
Monolith performed all the work, said Landry, from developing plans to the installation. Wiring was also installed by Monolith inside Town Hall.
“Everything was done by them at no cost to the town,” Landry said. “They get the majority of the share because they paid for everything.”
The savings aren’t just visible in the accounting books though, because through the project Monolith installed a monitor in Town Hall displaying information on energy usage. The monitor cycles through a set of screens, with one showing historical data on how much power is generated by the panels and another screen providing a current snapshot of what percentage of the building’s power usage is coming from the panels.
On of the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 3, the town had prevented 560 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, according to the display.
“There may be times when we are running totally solar, maybe on the weekends or at night, when the offices are closed down,” Landry said.
Since the solar panel is part of a study of how much energy savings could be realized, Landry said town officials don’t know how much electricity costs will be offset. After the summer, the town should have good base numbers to estimate savings.
Last July, the Town Board passed a resolution to set up an agreement with Monolith, which previously had the town set to receive only 20 percent of the energy generated. Also, the solar panel initiative was approved alongside the Town Board adopting the Climate Smart Communities Pledge. The focus of the pledge is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to stabilize the climate.
Councilwoman Denise Murphy McGraw said NYSERDA evaluates companies like Monolith, so there is “no risk” to the town. McGraw said the town has developed a good relationship with NYSERDA over the last few years.
“This is a town of a lot of engineers … so we really in a large part want to be cutting edge in what we are doing,” McGraw said. “This builds on what we are doing … looking at how much energy we are actually using.”
The new monitor detailing solar panel data is also below another monitor installed last October that displays a revolving array of graphs and data on electricity usage at Town Hall. The system behind the monitor is part of a pilot program administered and funded by the state.
McGraw said it is important to have the monitors in Town Hall, so people can view them and learn about alternative energy.
“I want to make this stuff interesting to people,” she said. “This is what makes it interesting to people.”
Landry said as residents come into Town Hall to file their taxes, many are noticing the display.
“A lot of people are coming in and walking right by this and stopping and checking it out,” Landry said.
The town is also planning to install solar panels at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Highway Garage, which would be done through the same process. The panels weren’t placed on the roof of Town Hall because it wasn’t ideal for the panels. The two additional locations will probably get ground-mounted panels, too.