GeoGenix, an established industry leader in commercial and residential solar installations in the mid-Atlantic region, has announced that it has completed the installation of a 465-kilowatt rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system for Trans World Marketing, at its headquarters in East Rutherford, N.J.
The system, which was designed, engineered and installed by Old Bridge, N.J.-based GeoGenix, is housed on Trans Worlds two-story, 80,000 square-foot headquarters, located at 360 Murray Hill Parkway, which includes office and manufacturing space, as well as a distribution center.
The system, which was recently completed, will offset approximately 70 percent of Trans Worlds electricity usage. Trans World, a privately held company, designs and manufactures in-store marketing programs that motivate consumers to buy national brand consumer products, including those of LG Electronics, Unilever, Benjamin Moore and Hunter-Douglas.
In addition to its headquarters, Trans World has regional sales offices around the country. The system was installed under a third-party financing model called a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that allows property owners to receive all the benefits of solar without any upfront cost. The PPA provider, Hudson Energy Solar Corp., will own and operate the system, and sell the electricity to the host (Trans World Marketing) at a discounted rate. Hudson Energy Solar Corp., a subsidiary of Just Energy Group Inc., is a specialist in providing municipal, commercial and residential customers with renewable energy solutions.
Were thrilled to announce the completion of the installation for Trans World, said Gaurav Naik, co-owner and principal at GeoGenix. After presenting Trans World with multiple solar solutions, the PPA option turned out to be the most attractive. This allowed them to take advantage of solar — generating clean, renewable energy and paying less than they had previously paid for electricity — with no upfront cost, which is extremely attractive for companies in a state with some of the countrys highest energy costs.
The PPA also allows business and property owners to lock in electricity rates, thus serving as a hedge against rising electricity costs. Under the PPA agreement, Hudson Energy Solar Corp. will retain ownership of the system for 15 years. After 15 years, Trans World will have the option to assume ownership of the system, thus receiving free electricity for the remainder of the systems life, which is more than 25 years.
We applaud Trans World for their actions to pursue renewable energy alternatives via solar energy, which is sure to present sustained benefits both in terms of environmental and financial savings, said Abe Grohman, chief executive officer of Hudson Energy Solar Corp. We are excited to be a part of this environmental initiative with Trans World especially as we see more and more economic and brand-related incentives for businesses to go green.
According to Joseph Greenhall, Trans Worlds vice president of operations, the company began the process of going solar in 2011, when there was a federal cash grant in place that returned 30 percent of the investment and a PSE&G loan program that offered loans to property owners that were paid back through the sale of Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) generated by the system. The SREC program is a financial incentive that awards system owners with SRECs, which are purchased by utilities to meet solar mandates for solar energy production.
This originally made it a very cost-effective to own our system; however, both [the grant and PSE&G loan] programs expired on Dec. 31, said Greenhall. Because of this, there was a big backlog of projects to get through the PSE&G program. So even though we wanted to get solar going in 2011, as it got closer to the end of the year it became apparent that we were not going to get funding.
Although the private funding did not work out, Trans World was still able to install through the PPA, Greenhall said. GeoGenix, which had been there from the beginning and came highly recommended by one of our partners, then brought the PPA option to the table, which turned out to be our best option — no money down, no financial risk, reduced energy costs and a reduced carbon footprint, he said. GeoGenix understood our needs and was very helpful.
In addition to solar, Trans World has a number of other green initiatives, which reflect the companys commitment to social responsibility, Greenhall said. The company has a recycling program for plastic, aluminum, glass, steel, paper and corrugated waste; and most of the materials used in its production process are recycled. The company has also installed an energy-efficient lighting system.
We have been making strides in going green, said Greenhall. Its been important to us to be a good, socially responsible neighbor. We had a handful of green initiatives in place, but we wanted to take it further and solar was the obvious next step for us.
The companys solar step is comprised of over 245 panels, which will produce 518,000-kilowatt hours of electricity, or the equivalent to the reduction of about 710,000 pounds of CO2 emissions per year, which equates to offsetting the power demand of 80 homes for one year, planting 8,340 trees or removing 58 cars from the road annually.
