Solar panels on the library...not so fast
If you missed it, last night's FinCom marathon meeting about the solar panels on the library was a killer. The biggest question that went unanswered was are we getting the best deal? It took them 3 plus hours to ask the administration to get a few proposals before signing a 20 year deal. I am in total agreement with getting the best deal possible and agree that FinSubCom should be asking questions of any deal the city enters into.
Three councilors voted for more info, while the same two held their ground and insisted, the process worked well. The savings over 20 years was estimated at 100K, with the tax credits going to the company. As the meeting dragged on, the petty insults made the meeting unproductive.
As a multi-homeowner, last year I gave in to the solar panel idea. But when I received quotes from 2 companies I was dismayed to find such vast differences in the deals the companies offered. Not only in the amount of panels on each house, not only the length of time under contract, but the price per kilowatt was also different. From my experience, the more research one does, the better. Needless to say, I didn't sign on with either company.
http://207.172.210.8:5002/CablecastPublicSite/show/2233?channel=1
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 11:07 AM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
I was under the impression that municipalities had to but a project like this out to bid? If not, it should be the policy of the city to do that. And the company that submitted the bid we have already should not object to the competition. If they do, that tells us they are not offering the best deal.
Why just the McAuliffe library? Wouldn't we get a better deal if we added in a bunch of city owned buildings? And what about the new Fuller school. Are we putting solar panels on that building?
We have much bigger expenses to worry about to be spending so much time on this one
regarding Fuller. The idea was to cover the parking areas with structures that would hold solar panels, but there's a problem with the land be able to support the frame work. To my knowledge there are no plans to put solar panels on the roof of the new Fuller school.
While Town Meeting was still working, someone looked at ALL the buildings in Town, including the schools. It was determined that many of the roofs were old and in need of repair. Solar companies are not willing to install solar panels on roof that will be replaced soon. And if we did put solar panels on them and then had to take them down, it would cost the city big time to de-install and then re-install them.
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