Responding to decreasing solar energy systems costs, Stone House Development Inc. invests in a 117 solar panel setup above their new mixed use apartment building in Shorewood Hills. Phil Levin’s report for NBC 15 notes that projects like this could be just the beginning. Read the article below and watch the video report to learn more.
By Phil Levin
Local developers are reconsidering solar panel installations as prices drop and energy efficiencies rise.
The projects were previously prohibitively expensive as
pricey installations could take years to generate enough energy to
offset their cost. Commercial arrays can now pay for themselves in as
few as five years.
“If you are going to be owning the building for ten years
or more, you’re going to recoup those costs and the savings will keep
going another 15 plus years after that,” said Full Spectrum Solar
Founder Burke O’Neal.
His group installs the arrays on residential and commercial
buildings. They recently set up 117 panels above a new mixed-use
apartment building in Shorewood Hills called Arbor Crossing.
The panels will produce energy when the sun is out to power common area
utilities like lighting in hallways and the garage. In the middle of the
day the solar array might generate more energy than those circuits
need, causing the Madison Gas and Electric meter to spin backwards.