Governor Donald L. Carcieri and the Office of Energy Resources today announced that $3.3 million in Recovery Act funds have been conditionally awarded to 45 businesses, municipalities, non-profit organizations and private citizens throughout Rhode Island for renewable energy projects. Grant awards are conditional upon meeting all local, state and federal permitting and environmental rules and regulations. Projects must not conflict with historic preservation requirements and may require additional information by the US Department of Energy.
Funding for this program was made available through a grant to Rhode Island from the federal Department of Energy’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) State Energy Program (SEP). The non-utility scale renewable energy program, administered by the Office of Energy Resources, is designed to offset up to 25 percent of project cost. The Office of Energy Resources has accepted applications for a second round of funding for additional projects, totaling an additional $5 million. A third round of funding may be available upon completion of the second round of funding.
“The level and quality of proposals exceeded expectations, and I am heartened that in these difficult times Rhode Islanders thought creatively and sought to pursue green energy opportunities,” said Governor Donald L. Carcieri. “Supporting the use of renewable energy on the residential, commercial and government levels is a worthwhile investment. These projects will result in good jobs and allow our residents and businesses to make long-term investments that will reduce energy costs and save money.”
Renewable energy projects include solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro installations, as well as any other proven and accepted renewable energy system. Rhode Island residents were eligible to apply for a maximum of $10,000 of grant funding to pay for up to a quarter of the cost of a renewable energy project on their property. Businesses could apply for up to $500,000 for projects, and municipalities and institutions that serve or house 1000 or more persons, were eligible to apply for a maximum of $750,000.
The application process was competitive among type of applicant and type of renewable-energy system. Within each category selections were based on job creation, energy production, funds leveraged from other sources to complete a project, and the cost effectiveness of the system.
“As a state, we have made a commitment to support renewable energy projects, from residential to commercial,” continued Governor Carcieri. “For the first time, this funding from the Recovery Act allows us to support significant renewable energy projects on the residential, commercial and municipal levels.”
Applicants receiving notices include large scale commercial/industrial projects: Toray Plastics has been conditionally awarded a $500,000 grant (15.16% of the total allocation) for a 375 kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system using 1,650 solar panels mounted on single axis trackers at Quonset Point.
Three Community and Institutional organizations have been conditionally awarded grants totaling $1,739,500 (52.75% of the total allocation). These include: $750,000 to the Narragansett Bay Commission, for the construction of three wind turbines capable of producing between 2.4 million and 5.9 million kWh annually, a $239,500 grant to Trinity Restoration Inc., to install a solar PV wing canopy on the Southside of Providence that will supply clean electric power to a new charter school, and a $750,000 grant to the Washington County Regional Planning Council for a 12.3 acre solar PV system that will supply energy to the Town of Westerly.
Eight small commercial/industrial applicants have been conditionally awarded grants totaling $747,224 (22.66% of the total allocation), including: $85,000 to the Rhode Island Historical Society to install a closed-loop geothermal museum quality environmental and humidity control system at the John Brown House; $56,000 to NorthPaws Veterinary Center for a geothermal system; $20,000 to Baccala Concrete Corporation to install a solar thermal system to heat water for mixing concrete in colder months; $27,925 to the Church of Christ the King in Centreville to install a solar PV system; $134,549 to Bio-Detek to install a grid-connected solar PV system, expected to produce more than 200,000 Kilowatt hours annually; $32,500 to the West Warwick Regional Waste Water Treatment Plant to install a 6 kilowatt hydroelectric turbine to produce 34,000 kWh annually; $156,250 to Hodges Badge Company to install a 225 kilowatt wind turbine to offset 100 percent of the company’s electrical manufacturing needs; and $235,000 to a mixed use development at Sandywoods Farm in Tiverton to install a 225 kilowatt wind turbine.
Thirty-three grants have been conditionally awarded to residential applicants, for the installation of solar thermal, solar photovaltic, and geothermal systems, with funding totaling $310,744 (9.4% of the total allocation).
LARGE COMMERCIAL
Toray Plastics 7316 Job Hours Large Commercial Solar PV $500,000 Toray Plastics (America), Inc. employs about 600 people in RI and 100 people in VA. Toray currently contributes approximately $70 Million a year (2008) to RI wages and payments to RI vendors. The proposed project will offset a portion of Toray's electrical load with affordable renewable energy from a 375 kW Photo Voltaic (PV) Solar system using 1,650 PV panels mounted on single axis trackers at Quonset Point.
COMMUNITY AND INSTITUTIONAL
NBC 12,000 Job Hours Community Wind $750,000 The Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC) owns and operates the State of Rhode Island's two largest Wastewater Treatment Facilities (WWTF) located at Field's Point (FP) in Providence and Bucklin Point (BP) in East Providence. Based on the results of this detailed three year “Wind Energy Feasibility Study” it has been concluded that sufficient wind resources are available at the site to technically and economically support a behind-the-meter renewable wind energy project consisting of three wind turbines with name plate capacities of between 600 and 1,600 kW. The Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC) will install three such wind turbines capable of producing between 2,400,000 and 5,900,000 kWh/year of renewable electricity for use within the FP WWTF.
Trinity Rest. 4,400 Job Hours Community Solar PV $239,500 Trinity Restoration Inc. will install a Solar Wing Canopy on a highly visible, 1.5-acre urban site located at Trinity Square on the Southside of Providence. The project is within a lower income, racially and ethnically diverse community and within an historic district. When the Trinity Project is complete, the Solar Wing Canopy system (the System) will supply clean electric power and other important benefits to a new Board of Regents-approved performing arts charter school serving Providence students in grades 7-12.
Wash. County 10,000 Job Hours Community Solar PV $750,000 The Washington County Regional Planning Council will install a 2-MW ground-based photovoltaic array to be developed with the Town of Westerly and the Washington County Regional Planning Council. Together, the partners request $750,000 in Non Utility Scale Renewable grant funds for a single 12.3-acre solar photovoltaic array that will cost $10,500,000. The building site is located on useable land adjacent to a landfill.
SMALL COMMERCIAL
NorthPaws 1640 Job Hours Small Commercial Geothermal $56,000 NorthPaws Veterinary Center is located in Greenville, Rhode Island at 564 Putnam Pike. It will install a geothermal system which will produce 281,601 Btu annually.
The RIHS 2,600 Job Hours Small Commercial Geothermal $85,000 The Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS) will install a museum environmental and humidity control system at the historic John Brown House, located at 52 Power Street in Providence. The centerpiece of this system will be the use of a closed-loop geothermal array, the first ever employed in the United States at a designated National Historic Landmark property such as the John Brown House.
Church of C.K. 260 Job Hours Small Commercial Solar PV $27,925 Nexamp, Inc. will install an 18.9 kW solar PV system at the Church of Christ the King, 130 Legris Avenue, Centreville, RI. The PV system will be comprised of 90 Kyocera KD210GX-LPU modules and three SMA Sunnyboy 7000US inverters. The modules will be mounted on a flat roof using the PanelClaw flat roof ballasted mounting system.
Bio-Detek 1,568 Job Hours Small Commercial Solar PV $134,549 Bio-Detek will install a grid-connected Photovoltaic Power System with Net-metering, STC Peak Wattage of 177,000 Watts DC, consisting of 885 High-Efficiency SunTech 200-Watt Modules, mounting system, 2 inverters and monitoring system. Estimated energy production is 202,608 Kilowatt Hours annually. The project will be located at Bio-Detek, Inc. headquarters and manufacturing facility in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Baccala Concre. 240 Job Hours Small Commercial Solar Therm. $20,000 Baccala Concrete Corporation will install a solar thermal system in their concrete facility to raise 10,000 gallons of water 20 degrees per day to mix concrete in colder months.
WWRWWTP 2,500 Job Hours Small Commercial Small Hydro $32,500 The West Warwick Regional Waste Water Treatment Plant will install a 6kW hydro electric siphon turbine to use the effluent water from the treatment facility as a resource to produce electricity. 34,000 kW will be produced annually.
Hodges Badge 1,200 Job Hours Small Commercial Wind $156,250 Hodges Badge Company will install a 225kw Wind Turbine Generator to offset 100% of the corporations manufacturing needs.
Sandywoods Farms 4,653 Job Hours Small Commercial Wind $235,000 The residential applicant will install a Norwin 225kW wind turbine at Sandywoods Farm, 600 Cornell Road in Tiverton.
RESIDENTIAL
Prov. Housing 800 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $94,090 The Providence Housing Authority (PHA), in conjunction with energy solutions provider Ameresco Inc., will install a 50 kilowatt capacity vertical PV solar array at Carroll Tower, an elderly high-rise located at 243 Smith Street in Providence and administered by the Providence Housing Authority.
NE Green Init. 160 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $4,750 The residential applicant will install a 3 kW photovoltaic (PV) system on a residential home.
Phillips, Bruce 140 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $10,000 The residential applicant will install a 6.15kW solar array, along with a 32 sq ft solar hot water system.
Ward, Harold 120 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $10,000 The residential applicant will install a photovoltaic (PV) system.
Franklin, Barbara 120 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $8,494 The residential applicant will install a 4.14kW photovoltaic system on the southwesterly-facing roof of her home. This will consist of 18 modules and 1 inverter.
McDonough, K. 104 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $7,007 The residential applicant will install a 3.22kW photovoltaic system on the southwesterly-facing roof of their home. This will consist of 14 modules and 1 inverter.
Parsons, M. 240 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $10,000 The residential applicant will install 3 systems, two solar, one wind. Estimated energy production of the entire system is 9274 kW hours per year.
Fleeter, Rick 172 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $10,000 The residential applicant will install a 3.15 kW photovoltaic system.
Mead, Chris 80 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $6,443 The residential applicant will install a 2.3 kW photovoltaic system on the south-facing roof of his home. This will consist of 10 modules and 1 inverter.
Jakmuah, Ed 212 Job hours Residential Solar PV $10,000 The residential applicant will install a 13.8kW photovoltaic system on the south-facing roof of his home. This will consist of 60 modules and 2 inverters.
Defresne, Ray 105 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $5,745 The residential applicant will install a 2.92kW photovoltaic system on the south-facing roof of his home. This will consist of 14 modules and 1 inverter.
Pond, Franklin 60 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $4,152 The residential applicant will install a 2.1kW photovoltaic system on the south-facing roof of his home. This will consist of 10 modules.
Kelly, Luke 54 Job Hours Residential Solar PV $2,975 The residential applicant will install a 1.5kW photovoltaic system on the south-facing roof of his home. This will consist of 7 modules.
Anderson, J. 75 Job hours Residential Solar PV $5,385 The residential applicant will install 12 Kyocera 210 watt solar panels on a standing seem metal roof of a house to be built at 40 Mitchel Avenue, Wakefield, RI. A 3,000 watt sunny boy inverter will feed into the home and grid.
Wells, Tamar 192 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $8,465 The residential applicant will install a solar hydronic radiant heating system.
Lutz, Karina 60 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $1,862 The residential applicant will install 2 closed loop solar domestic hot water heating systems on the south-facing roof of her home. Household hot water need is offset by 80%.
Andersen, Lyn 60 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $2,675 The residential applicant will install 2 closed loop solar domestic hot water heating systems on the southwesterly-facing roof of the home. Household hot water need is offset by 80%.
Avedesian, Dave 60 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $2,400 The residential applicant will install 2 closed loop solar domestic hot water heating systems on the southwesterly-facing roof of his home. Household hot water need is offset by 80%.
Mckenzie, W. 40 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $2,124 The residential applicant will install a solar domestic hot water heating systems on the roof of the home. Household hot water need is offset by 90%.
Rodrigues P&H 95 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $4,687 The residential applicant will install a solar thermal system to support the home’s domestic hot water system and the home’s heating system.
Schwarzbach 75 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $2,122 The residential applicant will install a solar hot water system that will be piped to an 80 gallon solar storage tank that will feed into an existing hot water heater.
Rittling, Susan 85 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $2,375 The residential applicant will install 60 evacuated tubes on the south-facing roof of the residence. A closed loop will circulate fluid in to the heat exchanger of a 120- gallon storage tank.
Kent, Chris 672 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $10,000 The residential applicant will install 180 evacuated tubes on the roof of the residence. They will be piped to an 800 gallon storage tank that will feed into radiant floor heat to help heat the living space.
McCurdy, Ross 72 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $2,512 The residential applicant will install 50 Evacuated tube type solar collectors on the Southern roof face of a household. A closed loop will circulate fluid into the heat exchanger of a 120 gallon water storage tank. Solar storage tank will pre-feed current indirect fired water heater.
Hennigan, S. 20 Job Hours Residential Solar Therm. $3000 The residential applicant will install a solar hot water system on a residential household. The annual energy savings for the solar hot water would be approximately 1244.4 CCF.
Rowe, Noel 140 Job Hours Residential Solar PV/Therm $5,150 The residential applicant will install 5 Kyocera 210 watt panels on the roof of a home on 1411a Shannock Road Charlestown, RI. It will be configured in a battery back up with no grid-tie. The panels will be wired to Trace inverters and 12 6 volt 300 amp hour batteries. It will meet all NEC and National grid intertie requirements. 30 Evacuated tube solar collectors will be mounted to the roof of the home. They will be plumbed into an existing 650 gal storage tank that heats the home and domestic water.
Amoruso, Susan 160 Job Hours Residential Solar PV/Therm $10,000 The residential applicant will install both photovoltaic and solar hot water heating systems on the southeastern facing roof of their home. The photovoltaic component will consist of 18 SunPower SPR-225-BLK Modules; the solar thermal component will consist of 2 Viessman Solar Collectors.
Hubertus, W. 85 Job Hours Residential Solar PV/Therm $2,512 The residential applicant will install 50 evacuated tubes on the south-facing roof of the residence. A closed loop will circulate fluid into the heat exchanger of a 120 gallon storage tank.
Stones, Greg 72 Job Hours Residential Solar PV/Therm $2,125 The residential applicant will install 30 evacuated tubes on the south-facing roof of the residence. A closed loop will circulate fluid into the heat exchanger of an 80 gallon storage tank.
CW RI 500 Job Hours Residential Solar PV/Therm $30,000 Community Works RI will install a photovoltaic system consisting of two 5.4 kW arrays for two mixed-use buildings on Broad Street in South Providence RI. The two buildings, currently under construction (fully permitted), are being built by the non-profit community development corporation Community Works RI. One of the buildings will be LEED Platinum Certified. Both buildings are being built to Energy Star Certification. General Contractor for the project is the Stand Corporation. The buildings have 25 units of affordable apartments and 4,000 SF of commercial space, as well as a community center for the Crossroads Family Center.
Willey, Cap 150 Job Hours Residential Geothermal $10,000 The residential applicant will replace an oil-fired hot water heating and electrical central air conditioning system with a geothermal heat pump system.
Tetreault, R. 200 Job Hours Residential Geothermal $10,000 The residential applicant will install a ground source heat pump residential heating and cooling system with hot water generation capabilities.
Alexander, T. 236 Job Hours Residential Geothermal $9,688 The residential applicant will perform renovations to a cottage that was built in 1954. The renovations include: installation of a geothermal heat source to provide space heating, cooling and hot water heating & installation of thermal solar panels to provide hot water heating.