http://www.greenenergytimes.org/2012/12/15/springfield-vt-community-solar-partnerships/
Springfield, VT – Community Solar Partnerships
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HB Energy Solutions & GMP Partner with Mt. Ascutney Hospital & Health Centers, as well as options for members of the Community.
The third and final component of the solar energy production facility. comes online at the expanded HB Energy campus
When Tom Hernon and Doug Bellows founded HB Energy Solutions, over 20 years ago, they already had a lot of background in the heating and plumbing business. In fact, you might say it was in Tom Hernon’ blood, because his father and grandfather had been in the heating business decades before he was born. When his grandfather started working with furnaces, the latest fuel was coal. In his father’s day, that was replaced by oil. Today, it is seeing the oil fired furnaces replaced by newer and more environmentally friendly technology.
Now, a new generation has entered the energy business, and with it, HB Energy has a new line of energy business. Tom Hernon’s son, Brian, has taken the position of head of a new branch of the business, its Alternative Energy Division. And with that, comes a business that goes beyond selling fuel to actually generating electrical power for customers.
HB Energy Solutions has built a solar farm at their headquarters in Springfield, Vermont. It is built in three sections. The first is on the roof of a warehouse used to store wood pellets. A second location is in a field that had previously held an oil tank. The third set of panels is in what had once been a parking lot. These arrays combine to well over 150 kW of solar capacity, and are now operational.
In a time when the components of solar systems are mostly made in China, the HB Energy Solutions solar farm has solar panels from Helios, in Wisconsin, and an inverter from Solectria, in Massachusetts. Tom Hernon says he was impressed by the quality of the products he used, and was happy to see them coming from American produces.
Greg Heaton, of Green Mountain Power, worked with HB Energy to take care of the grid-tie connections. Green Mountain will meter the electricity produced and put it on the grid. Excess power is tracked through a credit system, and can be sold. Most recently, Mt. Ascutney Hospital has agreed to buy power from the HB solar system. The agreement benefits all parties, HB Energy Solutions, Green Mountain Power, and Mt. Ascutney Hospital.
The contract guarantees a supply of electrical power for the hospital at a low cost, fixed for the its ten-year term. This is particularly important, because hospital energy use is very high, a result of heavy reliance on technology and requirements for indoor environmental comfort for patients. Also, the solar power Mt. Ascutney Hospital is buying will help it achieve its sustainability goals.
(Left to Right): 1. Matthew Eagens, Director of Facilities, Mt. Ascutney Hospital 2. Greg Heaton, Field Technician, GMP 3. Doug Bellows, Owner, HB Energy 4. Kevin W. Donovan, Chief Executive Officer, Mt. Ascutney Hospital 5. Paul Calandrella, Chief Operating Officer, Mt. Ascutney Hospital 6. Tom Hernon, Owner, HB Energy 7. Dave Winslow, Senior Energy Consultant GMP
Asked about the future, Brian Hernon said, “I can’t predict what oil will cost ten years from now. However, I do know what energy from the sun will cost. It will still be free.”
HB Energy Solutions is at 132 Bridge Street in Springfield, VT. Info: www.hbenergy.com.
