Solar Energy Comes to University Park

With one solar panel project finished and another one recently approved by the town council, University Park residents are starting to invest in alternative energy sources and to limit their electricity use.

That comes shortly after town council members voted to accept a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy that the town received in order to improve its energy efficiency.

Meredith Hendrickson and her husband, Michael Kemper, will install solar panels on their home off Tuckerman Street within the next two weeks. The longtime residents of University Park had looked into having solar panels 20 years ago but gave up on the idea then.

"The cost and production wasn't there," Hendrickson said. "But now I feel like it was is the time."

She and her husband decided to get their own panels after the dedication ceremony at the Church of the Brethren.

"My panels will look like the churches, except I'll only have 14 panels," she said.

In June, the church had 99 solar panels installed, with the help of engineers from Standard Solar, a company with offices in Rockville and Delaware.

"So many people accepted the church project and helped develop it," she said, "and I thought we could do the same."

Hooker Monroe, chairman of the property commission for the church, said David Brosch, president of University Park Community Solar wanted to find a public place to install solar panels, so he approached the church.

Monroe said Brosch's idealism is what drove the project.

"To be able to see a community without huge amounts of money take this into their own hands is wonderful," Monroe said.

University Park Community Solar links investors with groups that want to be energy efficient but may not have the funds.

Brosch said the group is made up of about 35 investors who put in a minimum investment of $2,000 each.

"We have about $130,000 total to work with, and although we initially wanted to install panels on University Park Elementary, the church was more receptive," he said. "We still want to put panels on the school one day, but we know we have to get approval from the school system and others before we can."

For the church project, the community investors put up the funding, and the church will pay them back over time, while saving on its own energy bill.

"Overtime, PEPCO will end up paying us for the energy we send back to them," Monroe said.

For Hendrickson, the savings may not end up being so great that she receives checks from PEPCO, but she expects to save about a third or more on her energy bill.

Although the panels will cost her about $25,000, she will receive about $15,000 back from state grants and federal tax credits.

"It's a worthwhile investment," Hendrickson said.

Monroe said he hopes the church project will encourage other residents and businesses to invest in energy efficient projects.

"These projects spur interest and awareness," he said, adding that he hopes that the solar group and residents will support bigger projects as well.