Green InitiativesMany who were born after 1950 assume sustainable living is something invented in recent decades. That would be news to today’s retirees, for whom ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ was a way of life long before ‘carbon footprint’ became a household expression. So, perhaps it’s not so strange to see Essex Meadows has chosen to ‘go green.’ The community’s latest green project is the installation of a solar energy system. Designed and installed by Gloria Spire Solar of Bedford, Mass., the system’s 616 solar panels will cover approximately 9,000 square feet of roof space and will generate 128,282 kWh (kilowatt hours) each year. Real-Time monitoring is provided below to show the positive impact of this installation.
The new solar system will offset up to 6 percent of the community’s power needs and will supplant the generation of 99 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year—equivalent to the green house gases removed by 20 acres of forest. While the ‘green’ benefits of the system begin immediately, it should pay for itself in approximately eight years and will save Essex Meadows nearly $1 million in electrical costs over its 30-year life span. The system was made possible, in part, by a $459,719 grant from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund.
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