Solar energy reduces carbon footprint and your electric bill

A young locally-owned business is helping to reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming by promoting the use of solar energy. In the past year, Mercury Solar Systems (MSS), based in New Rochelle, has installed 41 solar energy systems throughout Westchester on both residences and commercial buildings including, for one, the Pepsi-Cola Company in Valhalla.

Ten of the installations are in Larchmont and Mamaroneck, including at Chatsworth Auction Galleries, the company’s first job in early 2007. A Larchmont resident, Anthony Coschigano, was another early customer, but that’s no surprise: he’s a co-founder of the company, along with Lloyd S. Hoffstatter, a physicist with a master’s degree in solar engineering, and Jared Haines of Rye Brook.

Margo Hotston, who lives in Larchmont Manor, has had solar panels for about a year. “We’re very happy with them,” she said. The system is of moderate size, because “our roofline is not huge – we have an old Victorian. We did it more for the environment.” She said she is realizing some savings on the cost of electricity, adding, “If everyone did it, it would make a huge difference.”

“The interest level in solar has grown exponentially over the past several years,” said Haines, the company’s president, especially since the introduction of the Federal Grant Program for Renewable Energy Projects under Pres. Obama, which he said offers cash rebates or credits for installing solar energy; New York State also offers incentives.“Everyone’s trying to jump on the green wagon,” Coschigano said. Investors see solar power as profitable, and in the past two years or so the country in general has grown more concerned about global warming. That can be seen in the Village of Larchmont, with the revival of the Environment Committee and the installation in April of a 6.4kW system at the Department of Public Works.

“Yet you still have customers who … think you’re selling snake oil,” Coschigano remarked. He cited concerns by municipal authorities such as the Rye Board of Architectural Review, which, he said, initially rejected a request for solar panels because it did not allow skylights; eventually the board rewrote the policy to permit the energy system. Reluctance also surfaced in Darien, where, said Coschigano, “they were afraid there would be glare on nearby homes.” The concerns proved to be unfounded.

Coschigano is personally dedicated to the company’s mission. “I feel great about what I do,” he confessed. “You get up every day and feel you’re helping people.”  But, he added, “None of this matters if the states and federal government … don’t continue to fund these programs.”
How Solar Works

Solar panels consist of multiple solar cells that turn natural sunlight into electricity, even on a cloudy day. The direct current (DC) electricity generated from the sun flows into an inverter, which converts it into alternating current (AC) electricity. A net meter installed by the local utility company tracks the amount of electricity generated and used. The energy is stored not in batteries, but in the electricity grid. When the system generates more power than is consumed, the net meter spins backwards, producing a credit with the utility company – and a smaller electric bill for the customer.

It’s not necessary to live in Arizona to benefit from solar power. The New York area receives about four hours per day of sunlight on average throughout the year – enough, for example, for a solar system to supply three-quarters of the energy needs for an 8,000-square-foot home in Pelham Manor; the average home is considerably smaller. The system continues to produce electricity on cloudy days, even when it snows. At Chatsworth Galleries, 1.5 inches of snow fell on the modules when they were first installed, but the system continued to collect energy. “UV rays go through the snow,” Coschigano explained.

MSS maintains that the environmental effect of installing a 10 kW system is equivalent either to planting 1.5 acres of trees per year, or not driving 15,000 miles in a car annually. This led Coschigano to say, “By installing a solar system you are making an important contribution in the fight to stop global warming.”
Who today could be against that?