Shutesbury could get solar panels at Town Hall

By Nick Grabbe
Staff Writer

Published on September 04, 2009

SHUTESBURY - Solar panels could be installed behind Town Hall at little or no cost to taxpayers, saving $950 a year in electricity expenses for the building, according to town officials.

The Select Board plans to discuss the project in mid-September, said Town Administrator Becky Torres. It would have to be under contract by November to take advantage of grant funding, she said.

The cost of the project is estimated at $40,000 to $45,000. The town has access to $20,000 because a large number of residents donated money on their electricity bills to promote renewable energy, Torres said. Another $19,000 or more could come from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, she said.

If the town's cost was only several thousand dollars, it could use money set aside in the budget for energy and conservation measures, she said. Money from this account has already been used to buy three new energy-efficient refrigerators, she said.

The Energy Committee recommended putting the solar panels, called "photovoltaics" or PVs, on the roof of the Highway Department building. It has good solar access and a pitched roof that's suitable for the project.

But this option was rejected because the roof will not accommodate the clamps the PV panels would require. This roof was recently insulated, and parts of it would have to be taken down, Torres said.

The PV panels behind Town Hall would be mounted on poles and could be up to 13 feet above the ground. They would take up about 400 square feet of space and could generate 5,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, supplying between a quarter and a third of the amount Town Hall uses, according to Larry Hunter, a member of the Energy Committee.

He has recently installed a similar solar system at his residence on Pelham Hill Road. He's getting $15,000 from the state, $10,000 from federal tax credits, and spending $20,000 out of pocket for his system, he said.

Without state and federal money, PV panels rank much lower than new windows and lightbulbs in the amount of time it takes to recoup the cost through energy savings, Hunter said.

But if Shutesbury invests only $4,000 in town money and saves $1,000 a year, that cost will be recovered in four years.

In 2006, Town Meeting approved a $50,000 wind turbine at Town Hall over considerable opposition, and the equipment was never installed. The PV panels represent a shorter payback time and would be less visible than the 120-foot-tall wind turbine, Torres said.

The lane behind Town Hall has been considered as the possible site of a new library or other municipal buildings. The PV panels would not preclude those options, she said.