The Hudson Valley Biz Journal reports on another successful project by HVCE.
BY CHRIS MILLER
The installation of a 10kW photovoltaic(PV) system at the home of Hudson Highlands Properties CEO David Silver by Hudson Valley Clean Energy is all that was needed to set the stage for a series ofrenewable energy projects that would begin at the Village Green apartment buildings in Rhinebeck, NY.
“The orientation of the roofs at the Village Green happened to be perfect for solar panels,” explained Silver.
“We decided to install the panels to provide all the common electric.”
Each tenant is still responsible for their own electric bill but the common lights in the hallway, the lights around the property, and the washer and drier room’s electricity is provided by the PV system. Providing power to those areas cost more than$26,000 annually before the installation and now Silver is looking forward to the arrival of his first zero balance bill from Central Hudson after energy back into their grid.
Silver, who has owned Village Green for approximately six years, decided the opportune time to install the PV system was immediately after improvements were made to the buildings.
“We had just redone all the roofs at Village Green so I knew it was a good time to install the panels,” he said. “I had just replaced all the sheathing and all the shingles so, structurally, I wouldn’t need work on the roof at any time in the near future.” Hudson Highland Properties initiated the job six months after deciding to implement PV panels on its apartment complex’s roofs and Hudson Valley Clean Energy (HVCE) beganwork on the installation immediately. Silver stated that working with HVCE has been a good experience, citing the quality, craftsmanship and the cleanliness of the installation. Hudson Highlands Properties was able to obtain an accelerated depreciation due to having the PV installation on a commercial property. When he receives his grant from the government and all the numbers are tallied with the accelerated depreciation, the system and its installation will have a cost of $50,000. By the third year, money will be made from the investment.
Silver stated that the PV installation on the roof also removes any worry about increasing prices of that commodity used in the common areas that would be passed back to the tenants.“My philosophy is if I can save some money and pass it back to the tenants to make it more affordable so they will stay and I will have less vacancies – that’s a good investment,” he expressed. “There’s always a lot of maintenance in the apartment business. The great thing about a PV system is there’s no maintenance what-so-ever and it is immediately paying you back. When you go out on a nice sunny day and you see that meter going backward and you don’t have to do anything, that’s a good feeling. My yearly bills were $25,000and now they’re zero.”
The Hudson Highlands Properties CEO noted they are also looking to do something similar on their much larger Hudson View Park 550-unit apartment complex in Beacon and the new Rhinebeck Commons housing project near the Village Green.“
Rhinebeck Commons is already approved. Those houses will be, on average, about 2,500 square feet.Those seven houses will all be geo thermal,” noted Silver. “We’ve been installing solar panels, geo thermal,and foam insulation on the houses that we’re building because we think it’s just the responsible thing to do. As a small company we feel there’s no better way to change things than by just going ahead, getting started and doing it.”
BY CHRIS MILLER
The installation of a 10kW photovoltaic(PV) system at the home of Hudson Highlands Properties CEO David Silver by Hudson Valley Clean Energy is all that was needed to set the stage for a series ofrenewable energy projects that would begin at the Village Green apartment buildings in Rhinebeck, NY.
“The orientation of the roofs at the Village Green happened to be perfect for solar panels,” explained Silver.
“We decided to install the panels to provide all the common electric.”
Each tenant is still responsible for their own electric bill but the common lights in the hallway, the lights around the property, and the washer and drier room’s electricity is provided by the PV system. Providing power to those areas cost more than$26,000 annually before the installation and now Silver is looking forward to the arrival of his first zero balance bill from Central Hudson after energy back into their grid.
Silver, who has owned Village Green for approximately six years, decided the opportune time to install the PV system was immediately after improvements were made to the buildings.
“We had just redone all the roofs at Village Green so I knew it was a good time to install the panels,” he said. “I had just replaced all the sheathing and all the shingles so, structurally, I wouldn’t need work on the roof at any time in the near future.” Hudson Highland Properties initiated the job six months after deciding to implement PV panels on its apartment complex’s roofs and Hudson Valley Clean Energy (HVCE) beganwork on the installation immediately. Silver stated that working with HVCE has been a good experience, citing the quality, craftsmanship and the cleanliness of the installation. Hudson Highlands Properties was able to obtain an accelerated depreciation due to having the PV installation on a commercial property. When he receives his grant from the government and all the numbers are tallied with the accelerated depreciation, the system and its installation will have a cost of $50,000. By the third year, money will be made from the investment.
Silver stated that the PV installation on the roof also removes any worry about increasing prices of that commodity used in the common areas that would be passed back to the tenants.“My philosophy is if I can save some money and pass it back to the tenants to make it more affordable so they will stay and I will have less vacancies – that’s a good investment,” he expressed. “There’s always a lot of maintenance in the apartment business. The great thing about a PV system is there’s no maintenance what-so-ever and it is immediately paying you back. When you go out on a nice sunny day and you see that meter going backward and you don’t have to do anything, that’s a good feeling. My yearly bills were $25,000and now they’re zero.”
The Hudson Highlands Properties CEO noted they are also looking to do something similar on their much larger Hudson View Park 550-unit apartment complex in Beacon and the new Rhinebeck Commons housing project near the Village Green.“
Rhinebeck Commons is already approved. Those houses will be, on average, about 2,500 square feet.Those seven houses will all be geo thermal,” noted Silver. “We’ve been installing solar panels, geo thermal,and foam insulation on the houses that we’re building because we think it’s just the responsible thing to do. As a small company we feel there’s no better way to change things than by just going ahead, getting started and doing it.”
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