News
GREEN SCENE: Solar Makes Cents
April 6, 2010
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| Nationally, the building sector uses 8.6 quadrillion BTUs of energy annually (that's 15 zeroes), and we're at a historic place to reshape and reduce real estate's consumption, says Jeffrey Miller, who recently joined Lee & Associates' New Jersey office as EVP of its newly formed Energy Solutions Group. (Jeffrey, right, looks over documents with office head Rick Marchisio.) NJ, in particular, is a burgeoning market, he says, noting that the state's energy initiatives have been assisted through smart leadership and government, making NJ the 7th largest solar market in the world. Even while the industry was in a downturn and lending was shrinking, solar still maintained significant growth, he points out. |
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| Solar panels on the roof of the NJMC Center for Environmental and Scientific Education in Lyndhurst, NJ. The state's industrial market has plenty of open roof space, and owners should consider installing panels to help save money by decreasing operational costs, Jeffrey says. Think you can't afford solar power? As a whole, it's come down from $8 per kilowatt in '08 to the $5 range. Even banks are coming into the game with innovative financing models. And the NJ Office of Clean Energy is flush with capital, with $300M earmarked in the stimulus package, he adds. Operators can become energy efficient and improve their asset value for as little as two years' payback—and the more you save, the more you add to your net profit. |
