WOBURN, Mass. – July 25, 2013 – New England Resins and Pigments Corp., a regional chemical and packaging products distributor, has partnered with Solect Energy Development of Hopkinton, MA to install a 534 kW solar PV (photovoltaic) renewable energy system on the roof of its Woburn headquarters. The project covers 100% of the company’s energy costs, and excess energy generated by the system is being donated to the Council for Social Concern in Woburn to reduce the non-profit’s energy bills. The system is one of the largest roof-based systems in New England.
New England Resins, a family-owned business, worked with Solect to install the system on the roof of its 100,000-square-foot warehouse in Woburn. When it saw that its roof would support up to twice the electricity the company needed to run its operations, the company knew it had the opportunity to help out the community by donating the excess electricity.
“Solar was appealing for many reasons and Solect had the right mix of experience and knowledge to help us move this project forward,” said Paul O’Connor, president of New England Resins. “There are significant tax benefits to solar, of course, but as a chemical distribution company, one of our main themes is sustainability. We have large partner companies that regularly visit us and really approve of what we are doing here.”
Because New England Resins is generating so much more electricity than it uses, finding a non-profit partner made a lot of sense, O’Connor said. The Council of Social Concern assists over 2,700 individuals per year by providing safe, affordable, quality child care; parenting and wellness education and food assistance, among other services. “The Woburn Council for Social Concern has a very good standing in the business community and we are pleased to be able to do this to help out the local community any way we can,” O’Connor said.
New England Resins was able to take advantage of attractive federal and state 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.
“It’s really great to see businesses go the extra mile, not only to cut costs and help the environment through the installation of renewable solar energy, but also by helping the community out as well,” said Alex Keally, business development partner with Solect. “It has been a pleasure to work with New England Resins on this project.”
