By Joyce Kryszak
Java, NY – At the Beaver Meadow Audubon Center the sky is the limit when it comes to conservation.
Each year, thousands of school children make the trek from suburbs and city to learn about conservation at the nature center in Java. So, naturally, the center lit up when it learned the state was offered incentives to non-profits to install phovoltaic systems.
Bill Hudson is Executive Director of the Center. He said, if awarded the grant, the solar panels will become a valuable learning tool.
He said the obvious bonus is, of course, the energy savings. Hudson said the solar system would cut their dependence on the electrical grid by about fifty percent. That means a yearly savings of roughly $3,000. Hudson said and that's even in cloudy old Western New York.
The state grant would also pay for about 75 percent of the total $200,000 cost to install the nature center's solar system. A private energy company, Solar Liberty, is picking up the remainder.
The company is a certified installer in the new multi-million dollar grant program offered through the New York State Energy Resource and Development Authority. Ray Hull is a NYSERDA spokesman. He said the nature center is the kind of candidate they are targeting for the grants.
Hull said people are encouraged to check out the program at NYSERDA's web site, powernaturally.org.
The current grant cycle is under review and will be decided within a few weeks. If approved, Hudson said Beaver Meadow should be sprouting solar panels by sometime later this summer.
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