Electricians and Solar Walk the Mall

By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: March 18, 2010

WEATHERSFIELD — St. Patrick's Day was an appropriate day to roll out a green project such as this.

Wednesday afternoon, electricians and photovoltaic installers took advantage of the sunny, cloudless sky to install six solar panels on the roof of the Weathersfield Business Center, located at the intersection of Routes 131 and 106. The project was the culmination of a project by one of the tenants, Dave Bonta, founder and president of the USA Solar Store.

"What we've had, since we moved here, was a series of frequent power failures and just from my vantage point, being in the renewable energy industry, knowing there are reliable energy back-up systems, it just makes sense we should put one in here," said Bonta, whose Weathersfield location is central to the dozens of USA Solar Stores across the country. "When we lose power, we are the server for the warehouses. We are the brain trust for the entire operation."

Bonta wasn't alone when power outages set his business back. Scott Bradley, who owns the 6,700-square-foot building and operates the water-testing company Aquacheck, also faced setbacks when he lost power.

"Because we have a rural location — and we love the location — we have a lot of intermittent power. In a laboratory setting, we have to keep our incubators, which have tight temperature controls going all the time," Bradley said. "During times of intermittent power, now I don't have to scramble to find a generator."

The six solar panels mounted on the south face of the roof generate power, which is stored in batteries in the basement, which in times of power loss will feed the USA Solar Store, Aquacheck and the Weathersfield Post Office, which is now only the third post office in the country to have battery back up.

The installation was also a unique partnership between photovoltaic installers and professional electricians.

"With commercial work like this, there needs to be an interface between the PV (photovoltaic) guys and the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) guys," Bonta said.

On the job Wednesday were electricians with Sherwin Electric Company of Essex Junction, who welcomed the foray into renewable energy work.

"It's a new thing for us, because solar is coming around and people are starting to be interested in it so on our end it's kind of a new thing for us," said Richard Rheaume of Sherwin Electric. "So this is kind of a training day for us to learn how things work with a photovoltaic system."

When completed, the building will be grid tied, meaning that on the weekends any excess power generated through the solar panels will be sold back into the system.

josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com