Solar Power Shines in Maplewood

A constellation of partners and sponsors descended on Rutgers Street in Maplewood today for a "solar power turn-on" event at Kerry Tilden's house.

A member of Maplewood's Green Team and an all-around environmentally conscious person, Tilden has taken advantage of a number of financial incentives to install a state-of-the-art solar power system on the roof of her home that will now provide much of her family's power needs.

Home Depot and BP-Solar installed the system. It was made affordable, in part, by the New Jersey Clean Energy Program's Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC) trading program, and by PSE&G Solar Loan program. More information on solar power installation and incentive programs can be found at www.NewJerseySolarFunding.com.

Other local homeowners were on hand to talk about their decision to go solar: Nancy Dougherty, a Maplewood resident with an architecture practice in Short Hills, Studio 1200, said she ran into project manager Matt Morra of BP-Solar at a recent event and told him that she'd like to convert her home to solar but it was just too expensive.

Morra disabused Dougherty of that notion. Now, Dougherty is about to convert her Burr Road home using a $41,000 solar system that will only cost her $2,340 in personal outlay due to the incentives. "It's the Federal tax credits, the state tax credit, Home Depot and PSE&G basically underwriting the program," said Dougherty.

Raquel Daniels of Hillside Place in South Orange will need a larger system for her home, but is likewise committed to going solar. "We are waiting for permits to come in!" she enthused. "My husband and I are very excited and so are our daughters. It's going to cut down on electricity usage by half, reduce our carbon footprint, reduce pollution—everything the speakers have mentioned."

Daniels noted that her family had solar panels on a previous home that they owned in Connecticut, so "when we heard about his program we jumped on it." The Daniels family lives a very green lifestyle all around: "We recycle. I'm in the process of putting in a vegetable garden. We do CFL [compact fluorescent] light bulbs. We have everything on timers."

Meanwhile, the owner of the demonstration home, Kerry Tilden, thanked all the officials, sponsors and partners and participated in a "switch-on event" that included Jeanne Fox, Commissioner of the NJ Board of Public Utilities Commissioner and Larry Barth of New Jersey Clean Energy Program Renewable Energy Program. Tilden was clearly the woman of the hour, but it was also Fred Profeta's day to shine.

Profeta, Maplewood's Deputy Mayor for the Environment, is the founder of the Township's Green Team and is also Chair of the Mayors Committee for a Green Future.

Profeta noted that due to go-green efforts, Maplewood's community-wide total annual electricity use was down 6.0% from 2006 to 2008—the last year for which there is data. He also stated that New Jersey is now second only to California (with more than 5,582 solar power installations currently). "And they have so much sun," joked Profeta, who then noted the beautiful sunny day. "But who could beat this?"

Matt Elliot of Environment New Jersey said it was "exciting to see another person plug into the sun." He noted that New Jersey is known for negative things such as bad air quality and high-polluting energy plants, but might soon be better known as a leader in producing clean, solar energy.

Said Elliot, "When someone like Kerry Tilden puts solar on her house, it benefits everyone in New Jersey. it's a win-win. It's good for the environment and good for the economy."