Friday, March 29, 2013
Ribbon cutting for new solar installation after 20 years.
When the Somerset County Park Commission's Environmental Education Center was built in Basking Ridge in 1976, it was one of the first educational buildings in the nation to have solar panels as one of the primary features. On Thursday, Somerset County officials gathered outside the building for an official ribbon cutting on a new solar installation that will keep the wooded EEC building current for today's solar technology. "It's particularly fitting that we're unveiling solar panels here at the Environmental Education Center, which was one of the first educational facilities in the U.S. to feature solar panels back in the 1970s," said freeholder Patricia Walsh, park commission liaison. "Now that solar energy is enjoying renewed interest …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
They have been moved from the original spot in the police parking lot.
The county is planning to build solar panels over the detention basin behind the Somerset Regional Animal Shelter as an alternative to an original plan to build them over the police department parking lot. According to township engineer Robert Bogart, the county was initially planning to install solar panels over that parking lot at the municipal building, with the panels handling the energy consumption of the entire building. But, Bogart said, it was determined that that plan wouldn’t work. “There were issues of the affect of the lighting at the turf field there, with the shadow that the light fixtures would cast on the panels,” he said. County representatives discussed their new plan at the Jan. 8 planning board meeting to install the …
Monday, September 24, 2012
This is another in a long line of projects to add solar panels in Bridgewater.
Solar panel canopies are popping up all over town—and the latest spot is the Bridgewater Commons Mall. The canopies are currently being constructed on the top floor of the parking deck, and panels will also be placed on the roof of the mall itself. The township council approved a resolution Thursday to sign a developers agreement with Safari Energy, LLC, which is building the panels. “This is for work at the mall, and it consists of building structures similar to the ones at the high school on the parking deck of the mall,” said township engineer Robert Bogart. “They already got all the permits, they also have permits for structures on the roof of the mall, the flat ones.” Councilman Filipe Pedroso asked whether the tall canopy structures …
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Monday, August 13, 2012
The township ordinance is being changed to account for new inspections.
The township is making a few changes to its ordinance concerning construction fees to account for new types of inspections needing to be done frequently around the township. The council unanimously approved an introduction to an ordinance about the changes at the Aug. 6 meeting. The two main changes, according to code enforcement superintendent Steve Rodzinak, concern elevator inspections and solar inspections. As for elevators, Rodzinak said, it is an intense inspection requiring testing smoke detectors in every lobby of a building, among other work. He said it could take several hours to complete. “We did not have it addressed in our fee schedule,” he said. “This addresses new installations.” As for solar inspections, Rodzinak said that …
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
County plans projects at six locations around town.
With carport solar panels already completed at the Bridgewater Senior Center and the Bridgewater Township Library, the township and county are moving forward with six more solar projects throughout the township. The projects will be at the TD Bank Ballpark, the Bridgewater Central Maintenance Facility, the Bridgewater-Raritan High School, the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School, the Somerset County Vocational & Technical High School and the municipal building. All locations will have the canopies over existing parking spaces, according to engineer Michael Thomas, with Innovative Engineering. They will be a little more than 14 feet above the ground, he said, and they will also have a snow stopper to prevent any extra snow from falling off the…
Monday, March 19, 2012
Dynamic Solar offered church a chance to do so without any upfront costs.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Assemblyman Robert Schroeder sponsors bill requiring emblem on buildings where solar panels are attached to the roof to protect firefighters from electrocution.
With an increasing number of buildings investing in alternative energy, emergency responders are often unable to immediately identify structures that have installed solar panels on their roofs — putting them at risk of electrocution in the event of a fire. In an effort to protect firefighters against the danger of electrocution posed by solar panels, Assemblyman Robert Schroeder (R-Woodcliff Lake), a volunteer firefighter in the Township of Washington since 1980 who has twice served as fire chief, has sponsored a bill that would require buildings to clearly label with an exterior emblem whether they have solar panels. The bipartisan bill was approved by the Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee, on which Schroeder …
Friday, February 17, 2012
And the district is looking into car port solar panels at several schools.
There is no safe place to walk in the Basilone Field press box at the Bridgewater-Raritan High School—and so the board of education is looking at costs to replace it. According to board of education vice president Patrick Breslin, there is currently no safe place to walk in the box, and it needs to have the roof and flooring replaced or repaired. At this point, Breslin said Tuesday, the replacing of the roof and floor will cost $16,000. Replacing the entire box, Breslin said, could cost upwards of $100,000. “The press box is smaller than it should be,” he said. “But if we went to a larger box arrangement, it costs [much more].” “We recommend at this time that the best course of action is to stick with what we have,” he added. In efforts to…
Monday, January 16, 2012
The district examines options for conserving energy.
With township buildings already utilizing the power of the sun, the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District is moving forward with examining the use of solar panels and other energy conservation methods on schools throughout the district. "The facilities committee has been talking about an energy savings improvement plan," Business Administrator Peter Starrs said at the Jan. 10 Board of Education meeting. Greg Somjen, of Parette Somjen Architects, spoke before the board about the district's energy savings improvement program, which was first put into place with audits done through Somerset County. "This is a funding mechanism that was put in place in 2009, and is a means by which schools can fund energy-related projects," he said. "…
Friday, December 2, 2011
The zoning board approves an application for a solar canopy array at an office complex.
The zoning board unanimously approved an application Tuesday for canopy solar panels at the Piedmont Office Realty Trust building on Crossing Boulevard, saying there will be no aesthetic detriment to the township. “We are speaking specifically to a canopy array to be erected in the parking lot,” said zoning board member Donald Sweeney. “I think this is a good plan, and that anything we can do to utilize renewable energy sources is something in the national interest, and Bridgewater’s best interest.” “It’s not in the industrial zone where we encourage ground-mounted solar arrays, but I don’t see any detriment in terms of the display,” he added. The application was presented by Martifer Solar USA, a solar systems installer that was hired by …
Robin Brueckner
8:33 am on Saturday, March 30, 2013
"..the county is calling a "taxpayer-neutral" initiative..." Just plain silly. Solar panels are uneconomical: the only thing that makes them 'neutral' for the county are my state and federal tax subsidies. When does this lunacy end. We are all paying for an uneconomical form of energy to reduce a carbon footprint that is now acknowledged to be unrelated to our fixed global temperatures for the … more ›