By Barbara Pinckney<\/p>\n
A Florida company whose area business is
\ndirected by a Saratoga Springs man, is moving
\nforward with plans to build a solar farm to serve
\nthe town of Lake George, even as it waits to hear
\nif it will also be doing business with the village of
\nLake George.<\/p>\n
Fort Lauderdale-based Overseas Lease Group
\nhas entered into a 20-year contract to provide solar
\nenergy to the town. Michael Doud of Saratoga
\nSprings is director of business development for
\nOverseas. He said the expectation is that a 672,000
\nkilowatt solar panel system will be installed in the
\ncoming months.<\/p>\n
Overseas is owned by George Badcock, who also
\nowns Hacker Boat Co. of Queensbury.
\n“Unfortunately solar takes a while,” he said.<\/p>\n
“You have a lot of people involved. You need building
\npermit approval, real estate approval, facilities
\napproval–but our hope would be we would have
\nthe system installed by the end of the year.”
\nWhile Overseas would develop and finance the
\nproject, Apex Solar of Glens Falls would do the
\nconstruction.<\/p>\n
The precise site of the farm is not yet known.
\nDoud said the Overseas is looking at a few sites
\nwithin National Grid’s territory, including Washington
\nCounty. It needs about three acres.<\/p>\n
Overseas had originally talked about building
\na 2.2 megawatt solar farm on about 12 acres, to
\nserve both the town and village of Lake George.
\nThat farm, which had an estimated construction
\ncost of about $6 million, remains a possibility.<\/p>\n
“The town of Lake George just signed a contract
\nwith our company, but the village has reversed
\ntheir decision to sign their contract, on the advice
\nof their lawyer, and I believe they are going to
\nput it out to public bid,” Doud said. “So we are on
\nhold with the village until we hopefully win the
\ncontract, but we won’t know until that happens.”<\/p>\n
But even if Overseas Lease wins the contract
\nwith the village, it may not be able to build a system
\nto serve both the town and the village at the
\nsame site. Doud said that while that would be the
\nideal scenario, the timing will determine whether
\nit can be done. If not, a second farm would be built.
\nOverseas also will be bidding on solar contracts
\nto serve Fort Edward and Bolton. Doud said that
\nwhile most New York municipalities do not put
\ntheir utility power out to bid, “solar seems to get
\na little more scrutiny.”<\/p>\n
Regardless of what happens with the three
\nother communities, Overseas will build a solar
\nfarm to serve the town of Lake George. The project
\nwill be of no cost to the town, but should reduce
\nits electric bills.<\/p>\n
“Typically it is a substantial savings–between
\n15 [percent] and 20 percent in year one and those
\nsavings will grow over time as utility prices also
\nincrease,” Doud said. “Town residents will feel less
\npressure from taxes when the town starts saving
\nmoney on utilities.”<\/p>\n
The technology is relatively simple. The solar
\npanels collect about 92 percent of the sunlight
\nthey receive and reflect the rest. The cells contained
\nin the panels convert that sunlight to DC
\nelectricity, the type found in fuel cells and car
\nbatteries. It then flows through to an inverter–
\nwhich changes it to AC power–through a series
\nof meters and into the utility grid to be delivered
\nto the town. The remote metering means the farm
\ndoes not have to be located near Lake George.<\/p>\n
Interest in solar power has increased in New
\nYork over the past few years, primarily as a
\nresult of NY-Sun, a public-private partnership
\nlaunched in 2012 to promote its use in the state.
\nNY-Sun coordinates, and expands upon, efforts
\nby the New York State Energy Research and
\nDevelopment Authority (NYSERDA), the New
\nYork Power Authority (NYPA) and others, and
\nincludes financial incentives for the construction
\nof solar projects.<\/p>\n
Overseas Lease, which Badcock formed in
\n2003, leases vehicles, specialty equipment and
\nshelters to government entities and businesses
\nall over the world. Doud said the company recently
\nexpanded into solar energy.<\/p>\n
“We feel that the renewable energy sector is one
\nwhere there will be strong demand in the years
\nto come,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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