Mayor Stephen Acropolis and the Township Council will be presented with a check from Knollwood Energy, LLC at tonight’s Council Meeting for Solar Renewable Energy Credits that were produced by the solar panel system at the Brick Township Municipal Building.

“This is the first of many checks that we are going to get thanks to our solar power system,” said Mayor Acropolis.  “The revenue that is going to be generated over the next fifteen years is going to be invaluable and help us provide services to the people of Brick Township.”

Earlier this month, Knollwood Energy was awarded a 3 year contract to purchase the SRECs from the Township.  The $22,274 check is payment for 37 SRECs produced from the time the system went operational in earlier this year until May 31, 2010.  The Town expects to receive about $77,000 a year over the next three years from the sale of SRECs and produce another $30,000 in savings annually on electricity at the municipal building.

Last year, the Township installed a 125kw photovoltaic roof mounted solar system and a 12kw ground mounted photo photovoltaic solar system at the municipal complex.  The installation was completed earlier this year. The system will produce about 158,511 kWh annually.  The project cost $765,000, approximately $235,000 under what was budgeted.  It was funded through the 2009 Capital Budget.  The contractor was Barrier Electric of Bayonne, NJ.

The solar photovoltaic project was born out of the township’s comprehensive Sustainable Energy Master Plan (SEMP) that was developed by Birdsall Services Group with input from the MACRE.  Future projects that are part of the SEMP include the installation of a wind turbine at the Drum Point Sports Complex that could generate 30,000 kilowatts of electricity and the construction of a solar field at the site of the French’s Landfill.

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