CCM Installing Solar Panels Over Parking Lots
Saving energy and money without impacting available parking.
There is a new tide of green energy savings moving through Morris County. The “Morris Model,” which is a plan to reduce energy costs by installing solar panels at facilities throughout Morris County, is now landing at County College of Morris (CCM).
This month, CCM will begin installing solar panels over several of its parking lots to cut costs and energy. The panels will be placed in Parking Lots 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Rooftop units also will be placed on the college’s Student Community Center.
The panels are expected to generate 3,900,000 kWh annually, which represents about 45 percent of the college’s yearly energy usage. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average residential home in the United States uses 11,496 kWh of electricity yearly, meaning the electricity to be generated by the CCM photovoltaic system equates to powering 340 homes a year.
A number of trees on campus will need to be taken down to accommodate the project. However, for every one tree that is removed, the college will replace it with two trees that are more ornamental and decorative, such as flowering cherry and pear trees.
The project is expected to last three to four months and to be completed before the Fall Semester begins. There will be no loss of parking spaces on the campus as a result of the solar installation.
wildflower
9:08 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Thank you for reporting on this plan, the Morris Model. I have never heard of it, but am interested in finding out more. How exciting!
Jack Schrier
9:47 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The "Morris Model" is the brainchild of Freeholder Director Bill Chegwidden. With unanimous support of the Freeholder Board in 2009-2010 the solar initiative promised environmentally sound savings and, as we all now know, Chegwidden got it right - on the money, so to speak. The "model" part has become the template for other such taxpayer-savings plans throughout New Jersey. Full credit to the visionary conservative Freeholders of '09-'10 and Director Chegwidden!
Hank Heller
9:50 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The problem with all solar energy projects that I have ever heard of is that it only "works" if the purchase is heavily subsidized with government funds. Thereby you and I are partially paying for the solar energy benefit. When will any of these projects cause our taxes to decrease? How about never?
Hank Heller
Michael Brancato
10:42 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Well, Hank, considering that CCM is partly funded by tax dollars, keeping tuition affordable for residents of Morris County, yes, our tax dollars are paying some part of this project. Will you get a tax rebate because of this? Doubtful. Will your taxes go up because of this? Probably not. Will tuition at CCM go up because of this? Probably not. Why? Because operating costs in the long term will stay the same or go down at CCM because they will be using 45% less electricity from the grid. Try looking at the big picture once in a while, Hank.
Denobin
10:59 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Any new technology will need subsidies to help get it off the ground. Solar will have a long term benefit for everyone, so public investment is justified. Using the private investment argument is a non-starter because investors are notoriously short-sighted and cannot see beyond next quarter's financial results. I agree with Michael; we need to look at the big picture.
Carol M.
5:23 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Thankfully most civic minded people realize that the big picture isn't always just about money in their own pockets but rather how a vision might benefit a community, our children, the environment and our futures. Mr. Brancato I like your perspective and truthfulness on so many matters and I really appreciate your contributions. I also appreciate the efforts being made by some of our dedicated volunteers like the Board of Directors at CCM who try and do what they can to cut their operating costs and reduce spending...even the most cynic amongst us can't really find fault with those efforts...or can they?
Hank Heller
2:27 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Gentlemen,
I am looking at the big pcture. Almost all of the solar panels that are available for us to buy are coming from China, where that government is paying for a substantial portion of the products manufacture. Here, our government is paying for a substantial portion of the purchase and installation price. My point is that the product cannot stand on it's own viability without both governements support. That is a business model that cannot be sustained and we keep seeing that with the bankruptcy of so many solar manufacturers and installers.
And by the way, Mr. Denobin, very few good new technologies need government support. The ones that have the greatest chance of succeeding are those whose business model can attract the attention (and investment) of capitalists and new venture people. The reason is that those business plans show how profits can be earned by smart investors. Public finance almost always is flushed down the toilet after our politicians get finished taking care of their needs . That is why I shared my view with the Patch readership. Let's see what we read about this project in 3-5 years.
Hank Heller
Prentiss Gray
2:07 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
This is a great idea. Keep the cars and parking lots cool while delivering energy. As to government subsidies, a lot of great new technologies and spin-off products have gotten their start with government research funds and subsidies, so let's not throw the baby with the bathwater. Smart investment is what needs to be focused on and "green energy" production is about the hottest thing on the planet right now.
Thirty Four
6:21 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
What about the Internet that you used to post the comments. At one point, it was mostly subsidized by military and university research grants by the government. Zero subsidy means zero jump start. We do not expect the solar subsidies to go on forever. It is the economic of scale. At one point, the costs will be at grid parity and will be fully viable commercially. This is unlike the oil subsidies which are still on-going for no good reason.
Hank Heller
6:43 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Internet was developed by the military for their communication and research needs. Later it was adapted for use by Universities. Government did not subsidize the Internet in order to develop a product.
Zero subsidy does not mean zero jump start at all. If an idea is good enough there are many venture capitalists who would be eager to fund a great new idea. It does take, however, lots of hard work to develop a product, write a business plan and sell the idea to investment bankers, and then sell the product to end users. We have all seen how when government tries to be the engine behind new ideas, the inventors often fail because they have bad motivators working for them (usually politicians). If we want companies to grow and products to evolve, we need to cause the people who do this well to act as the generators. In general, governments do a lousy job of being the engine.
And, by the way, we cannot afford it as a country, nor can the rest of the world. There are many more Solyndra's than FaceBooks, believe me.
I find it so sad that so many of Patch's bloggers are eager for our government to continue on its path of "give aways", when the people funding the "give aways" are us. "We have met the enemy and it is us!"
Sorry, gotta go to work.
Hank Heller
George P Driscoll
10:32 am on Saturday, September 15, 2012
Right on Hank ite refreshing to hear common sense over warm and fuzzy
Thirty Four
9:03 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
I find it sad that many people cannot think beyond oil. Solar is not one of the simple business activities (like Facebook) where they are driven by profits. Similarly to when the military (not a subsidy, a total government funding) started the deployments of early Internet, that investment was not for profit, but for national security. Solar is also a major investment of national interest, or you can say it is a PART (not the total solution) of national security on energy. I find it fascinating that even Saudi, the guy who sells oil to us, started to build up their Solar capacity now. If they think they can keep selling oil forever, why would they care to put their investment in solar?
Galatea
11:50 pm on Thursday, December 27, 2012
If you factor in the various different government programs to support the fossil fuel industry, solar subsidies are a pittance. Between direct tax credits going to oil companies that pay no taxes, but reap record profits; programs to subsidize infrastructure like pipelines and shipping lanes; or the staggering military budget to safeguard our interests in oil producing countries, I find it preposterous that renewable energy projects are not given just a fraction of what oil costs us. More renewable energy means utilities won't have to invest in new plants and more localized facilities (panels on your house = no waiting for the electric company to trim branches or replace ripped up lines for weeks after a storm.) Oh, but Exxon doesn't own the sun...
vip
3:42 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013
What company put these panels up. Why are there not more project like it?