Stratford seeks engineering, design work for town hall solar panels

The Town of Stratford is hoping to install solar panels with capacity to generate 80 kilowatts of electricity, according to a request for proposals for engineering and design services.

That's enough to meet about 30 per cent of the annual electricity needs of the building, according to the town's mayor.

"The savings per year is going to be about $13,000 in electricity costs," said Mayor David Dunphy. "But the bigger picture of course is that we're saving on our greenhouse gas emissions which is important for the Town of Stratford."

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Panels to be located on gymnasium roof

The panels will be located on the flat rooftop above the gymnasium in Stratford town hall.

The system wouldfeed powerdirectly into the building for use on site. Any excess powerproduced by the rooftop panels would be sold to the main electrical grid, to further reduce the town's electricity costs.

"This is all part of again our community energy planinitiativewhere we're trying to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by the corporation of the town itself and also by our residents so its the first step in that whole process as well.

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Federal funding will pay for about half of the $200,000 cost of the project, through the federal gas tax rebate, according to Dunphy.

The mayor said the solar panels may also help offset any carbon tax that the federal government may bring in, in coming years.

Goal to cut emissions

The solar panels are a first step in the town's effort to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percentfrom 2015 levels.

"The bigger picture is to save on greenhouse gasses and provide leadership to the town that solar technology will work and save money and reduce greenhouse gasemissions," said Dunphy.

Bidding for the contract for engineering and design work closes Aug. 9.

The town hopes to have the solar panels up and running before the end of the year, according to the mayor.

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