Lighthouse Electrical Contracting, Inc. of Rockland, Mass., in a joint venture with Zapotech Energy of Cambridge, has completed the solar installation atop the BNY Mellon Bank facility.
The 76 kilowatt system, comprised of 364 SunTech photovoltaic panels in a 5,762 s/f array, is now on-line and supplies electric power to the 385,000 s/f office complex. The solar panels are affixed to two 125-foot by 25-foot sloped steel frames and are prominently located on the roof of the building.
The BNY Mellon installation is one of the largest solar projects in greater Boston and one of the top 25 solar-electric generating projects in Mass.
The solar system directly integrates into BNY Mellon's power grid and is expected to have an annual electrical power output of approximately 103,000 kilowatt-hours, resulting in electrical savings for the bank of up to $15,000 per year. The electricity generated will cover between 5% and 10% of the electricity costs at the BNY Mellon operations center facility, which houses 1,000 employees. Payback for the system is expected to be within about 5 years.
The project received funding from Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust and is part of National Grid's Congestion Relief Pilot program. Installation of the solar system was coordinated by BNY Mellon's property manager, Jones Lang LaSalle. Lighthouse Electrical and Zapotech Energy worked in tandem on a project team that included project designer Symmes Maini & McKee Associates of Cambridge.
Lighthouse supervised a field crew ranging from 3 to 8 electricians from IBEW Local 103. The project commenced in January and was completed, on Earth Day, April 22nd, when the system went on-line. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility was attended by numerous state and local officials, including Lt. governor Timothy Murray and Everett mayor Carlo DeMario, Jr.