First Solar Panels Go Up on Town-Owned Building

The first solar panels on an East Hampton Town-owned building have recently been installed, perhaps lighting the way for other such initiatives to lower the municipality's energy footprint.

Last week, panels were placed on southerly-exposed roof-line of the Lamb Building on Bluff Road in Amagansett. Several agencies are housed there, including the , the Retired Senior Volunteer Program and the town lifeguards.

The Town of East Hampton received $207,000 in grant funds from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, according to Tom Ruhle, the director of the , which oversaw the project and also has offices at the Lamb Building. NYSERDA received its funding from the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he said.

The Village of East Hampton installed solar panels on its Emergency Communications Building last year and the , both using funds from NYSERDA. The fire department also recently installed a .

Councilwoman Julia Prince and the former Energy Committee were looking at ways to make the town greener, she said. A few years ago, the Long Island Power Authority conducted energy audits of town-owned building for free.

The application, made 15 months ago, was written by the with significant assistance from the town purchasing department and the , Ruhle said.

"We looked at what made the most sense financially with the money we got," Prince said.

The Lamb building project cost $117,867, less than was initially expected, Ruhle said, adding that GreenLogic of Southampton won the bid to install the panels. The rest of the money will be used to put panels on another town-owned building, most likely the , Prince said, though there is no timeline for that to happen.

As specified in the grant requirements, the system was designed to be power neutral in that it will generate the amount electricity the building typically uses. While it is already generating power, it still has to be connected to a Long Island Power Authority meter, Ruhle said.

"It's a win-win," he said, adding that it cost the town nothing to get the panels, that it created jobs for a local contracting company during the installation, and it will save the town money on its electrical bill.

While the Lamb building is the first town building to get solar panels, it was preceded by at least one other solar project. "Years ago, a solar powered composting toilet was installed" at the end of South Lake Drive in Montauk, Ruhle said.

The town is also going to be using a $25,025 grant from NYSERDA to purchase air curtains, which help contain heat at entrances, for the barn on Springs-Fireplace Road. Bids for installation came back too high, Ruhle said, so the department is looking into installing them in-house.

Prince, whose term expires at the end of December, said she hopes the "greening" of town buildings continues, particularly with the headquarters in Wainscott, which has the largest energy bill of $80,000 to $100,000 a year.

"My dream would be, for whoever comes into town hall, to look at that building because they do have the highest energy consumption. Whether it's to put solar panels in or around that building -- the roof won't sustain it -- or to replace the HVAC system," she said.