CHATHAM – A solar panel array recently installed on the roof of Chatham’s Town Garage will deliver over 52 kilowatts of electricity and save the town some $5,600 annually.
The panel will power the town garage, Crellin Park, the Town EV charging station, and the municipal site at Percy Hill.
The panels were installed by Plug PV, at a total cost of $126,000.
Chatham’s Climate Smart Committee contributed over $82,000 from grants earned through the NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities (CEC) Program. The CEC Program is structured so communities earn points for completing sustainability projects (aka High Impact Actions), and those points translate into match-free grants.
The Town of Chatham contributed the remaining $44,000 towards the panels, of which 30 percent, or $13,200, is rebated via direct pay.
The all-volunteer Climate Smart Committee has garnered $110,000 in grant funding since 2016, from a number of completed High Impact Actions. Projects include installing clean energy LED lighting at town hall, a cordwood boiler at the town garage, and conducting community engagement and information campaigns about heat pumps, electric vehicles, and solar energy.
The town garage panels will be fully operational in March.
The clean energy they produce net a greenhouse gas reduction of approximately 7.2 metric tons of CO₂ per year.
Chatham Town Hall will also soon have its own solar panels, funded in part by other Climate Smart Committee award grants.