SHELBURNE — As discussions on installing solar panels on public buildings ramp up, Catamount Storage hopes to show how new construction can lead the way in advancing clean energy.
The private storage facility at 237 Main St. owned by Mike Skalski finished a multi-year project of installing rooftop solar panels in late July.
“I think it is great to have solar, considering the dangers of global warming in this day and age,” Skalski said.
Skalski owns the solar panels and sells the energy produced to Eversource, in turn powering the electrical grid in the area. Skalski said the panels pay for themselves by running them for three years.
The panels are expected to produce 375,000 kilowatt-hours of energy annually. They have produced 29,481 kilowatt-hours in their first two weeks of operation. This amount of power is equivalent to the energy use of about 35 homes.
Catamount Storage participates in the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program. This program functions by having the energy companies — Eversource, National Grid and Unitil — pay a base rate (calculated from kilowatt-hours of energy produced) to individual solar panel owners. People are able to apply to this program to begin selling their energy to those companies.
Catamount Solar has 672 photovoltaic modules on the roofs of the four storage buildings. There are four inverters in the office’s basement to convert the direct current, produced by the solar panels, into an alternating current, the type of current used in the national grid.
For Skalski, it took multiple years to have his operation up and running. He received help from state Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland, who stepped in to help Skalski work out a deal with Eversource.
“It would be stupid not to add solar to this big roof,” Skalski said.
In fact, he had purposely designed the storage facility in 2018 to be compatible with solar panels. He made the buildings with south-leaning roofs, able to hold weight, and standing seams to have the panels squeeze into place using clamps instead of needing additional screws. The nearby Ashfield Stone company also has solar panels.
“It was a good thing I engineered it when I did, because everything is backordered up to a year now,” Skalski said.
Aside from the profits generated from the solar panels, Catamount Storage has been able to keep around 90% of the facility full for the past couple years, Skalski said. Each of the four storage buildings is named after a local hilltown.
“I think anyone doing new construction should include some kind of renewable energy,” Skalski said. “It just makes sense.”
Contact Bella Levavi at blevavi@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.