Town looks to sun to cut energy costs - WFSB 3 Connecticut
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A Hartford suburb is turning to the sun in looking to cut its energy costs.
Glastonbury hopes to save some big bucks by teaming up with a developer to put solar panels around town.
Right now it's just a field full of green grass behind Glastonbury Town Hall, but officials hope to place solar panels there to help the town save some money.
"Putting them in offsets our energy costs, and gives us known rates for the next 20 years," said Building Superintendent Dave Sacchitella.
The town is seeking out the sun's golden rays to help reduce its energy costs. Under the proposal, solar panels will go in the three places in town that use the most energy, the high school, town hall and the highway garage.
For Town Hall, the panels will be positioned in a field. For the other two spots, they'll be mounted on the roof.
Using grants and energy credits, the developer, Solar City, will install the panels and own them.
Glastonbury will buy the electricity from them and the developer will sell back to Connecticut Light & Power what the town doesn't use.
In the first year, the town said it should see savings of about $75,000.
Sacchitella said that in the past four years, thanks to an energy reduction program, the town has been able to cut its energy usage by 10 percent.
He said the panels will continue that trend.
"This we find is a key component, an extension of wanting to do more, saving the town some money and putting us in a good place going forward," he said.
Glastonbury is already looking into future projects, like putting panels up on the roof at town hall, other schools and some fire houses. Residents can expect to start seeing the solar panels in the spring of 2013.
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