Hancock County Highway Department implements solar panels to save money
GREENFIELD, Ind. (THE REPORTER) — The Hancock County Highway Department held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday for solar panels on its Greenfield office in an effort to save taxpayers money on the department’s power bill.
County engineer Gary Pool says that the department’s power bill was a large continuous expense that they can’t avoid, but after finding a pair of grants that almost completely covered the costs of the solar panels to the county, the department can offset that cost.
“We’re hoping to save $750 to $1000 a month, and we can turn that back into asphalt, oil, paint striping, stop signs or anything that can be more useful to the county than to just spend money on [the power bill].”
The timing of finding the grants was convenient for the department, as the building that the panels were installed on also just had its roof replaced, meaning that they didn’t have to worry about repairing it immediately after the panel installation. Both the solar panels and the roof have a lifespan of about 25 years, Pool says, meaning that both would be replaced at similar times.
The effort to install the solar panels was spearheaded by Miriam Rolles, who, according to Pool, identified the potential of the solar panels last year in June. While the planning stages of the project took about a year, the installation went quick, as the solar panels went up in the course of a week, with the installation being completed on Friday, Aug. 9.
“I’m excited for the taxpayers not to have to pay the electrical bill anymore and to use that money for other stuff,” Pool said.
In its first month of operation, the panels offset 5.2 tons of carbon production and saved the department about $820 in energy costs, per the department. The department thanked the county council and commissioners, the city of Greenfield and Morton Solar & Electric for their help on the project.
This article originally appeared in the Greenfield Daily Reporter.