KW Solar News

Delaware City becomes first fire company in state to install solar panels

Delaware City becomes first fire company in state to install solar panels

By Rebecca Henely

Middletown Transcript

Wed Aug 13, 2008, 01:31 PM EDT

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Delaware City, Del. -

    While U.S. residents have been seeing a drop in energy costs lately, it probably has not been as large as the Delaware City Fire Company's.
    Ed Kalinowski, assistant public information officer for the company, said at the height of the day he saw their energy meter moving backward.
    That's because the Delaware Fire Company recently went solar. In June and July, Bear's KW Solar Solutions, LLC, installed 360 solar panels on the station's roof.
    "I think it's a good step for the fire company," Kalinowski said.
    Kalinowski said the company has strived to lessen its energy consumption, including working with electric company Delmarva Power to get motion detectors, security lighting and timing lights, all of which monitor when the lights should or shouldn't be on, but the company wanted to do more.
    "We've gone above and beyond at this point," Kalinowski said.
    The cost of the project is $490,000 overall, with 50 percent of the funds matched by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's energy office.
    As part of the process to get the grant, the company also hired KW Solar Solutions, LLC, which Kalinowski found through advertisements in a magazine, to investigate which places on the roof would generate the most sun, determining it was the south and east side. Then they installed 360 solar panels capable of generating more than 72 kilowatts of energy.
    "We're very pleased with their workmanship and we're very pleased with how it all came out," Kalinowski said. "I'd recommend them to anybody."
    He said the first bill hasn't come back for energy costs but its expected to be a substantial drop. In previous months, the company averaged 10 kilowatt hours a day or less, and lately the meter has read 2 to 4 kwh a day. This number is expected to go up in the winter, but should still save the company 30 to 40 percent in energy costs.
    "It should be a substantial savings," he said.
    Kalinowski said the system is low-maintenance, guaranteed to work for 25 years - possibly reaching to 50 years, and expected to pay for itself in six years or less.
    The company will also be able to receive a renewable energy certificate after they use 100 kwh. They can sell these certificates to power companies, which can use them as tax incentives.
    "They're selling for higher than we anticipate," Kalinowski said.
    He said Delaware City was the first fire company to go solar in the state.