WALPOLE, MA – November 05, 2013 –Harwood Engineering Company, a global engineering firm that develops and manufactures products that serve the high pressure industry, has partnered with Hopkinton-based Solect Energy Development to install a solar photovoltaic (PV) renewable energy system on the roof of its Walpole headquarters.
The 56 kW system, comprised of 190 panels attached to the metal roof portion of Harwood Engineering’s 15,000-square-foot facility, is expected to cover 100% of the company’s electricity use. The company has a significant monthly electric bill for its operations, which include usage from office equipment, heating, cooling, lighting, as well as the company’s engineering department and on-site machine shop in which its prototypes are designed and manufactured.
“We were not actively pursuing a solar solution until we spoke with Solect and they spelled out all of the benefits, both financial and environmental,” said Bill Newhall, president of Harwood Engineering. “Solect provided the level of expertise we needed for such a project, and were really cooperative and helpful in answering every question we had along the way.”
Harwood Engineering was able to take advantage of attractive state and federal tax incentives that help make renewable energy projects affordable for building owners. These include SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Certificates), which are earned by solar system owners based on the amount of energy they generate via solar. SRECs are ultimately purchased by electrical utility providers in Massachusetts to help meet their state-mandated goals of a percentage of power coming from renewable energy sources. This is a good revenue stream for those property owners who choose solar solutions. The company’s savings generated via the solar PV solution, along with the revenue generated through SRECs, made deploying solar a win-win situation for Harwood Engineering.
“Harwood Engineering was able to see the benefits of incorporating a renewable solar energy solution into its business plans right away,” said Steve Bianchi, business development partner at Solect. “Solar not only made sense from a financial perspective, but also from a green one, and Harwood Engineering’s electricity bills will be virtually zero for the life of the system.”
