Politics & Government

Solar Panels Chipping in on Prosecutor's Power Bill

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office installed solar panels in October

Solar panels installed on the roof of the Bergen County Prosecutor's office building in Paramus will be able to generate more than enough electricity to power the building and save Bergen taxpayers money, Prosecutor John Molinelli said.

And visitors can see exactly how much power the panels are generating with a monitor in the lobby. On a wintry day in January, the snow-covered panels weren't registering much of a blip, but even then the monitor reported that the panels had saved the equivalent of 375 gallons of gas since they went online in November.

"Government should definitely be doing this because this is direct taxpayer money," Molinelli said.

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The county had the panels installed through a power purchase agreement with Pfister Energy and Sunlight General. The panels were installed at no cost to the county; Pfister is compensated through payments for any energy the panels generate. 

The county pays a reduced rate for the electricity, and reduces the amount of energy it uses that comes from coal, oil and gas. The county has paid for the panels at the Prosecutor's Office to produce 101,995 kilowatts per year. If they generate more, it's a savings for the county.

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Joe Crafasi, Public Works Director for Bergen County, said the county plans to put solar panels on four other buildings in the next few months. Construction on panels at the county's parking garage as part of the same purchase agreement as the Prosecutor's Office panels was recently completed.

The Prosecutor's Office was the first county building to install the solar panels, in part thanks to Molinelli's prodding. The prosecutor said he started pushing for the panels three years ago.

The County has to wait for the weather to turn better to see real savings, but Molinelli is satisfied with the results so far.

"It's a terrific start," Molinelli said.


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