BY: SHAWNTAE HARRIS
Solar power can help with the financial burden of living in a big city. With high rent eating up most of your paycheque, once the bills start to come in, finances can become stressful and overwhelming. But one company is trying to save you money on the energy bills.
Solar power is coming to the borough of Brooklyn. Toronto company, UGE International, is building the panels in the trendy neighborhood of Park Slope and Boerum Hill.
“The solar power generated by the project will be credited to numerous residential accounts, offering access to the benefits and low cost of solar energy to those previously excluded due to their housing situation,” stated UGE’s Regional Director, Tim Woodcock.
The summer-long project aims to create cheaper electricity with a sustainable source, according to UGE international. The project will use 100 kilowatts of power at its peak.
“It’s been a privilege to work with ConEd, the Department of Buildings, and the project’s ownership group on developing this landmark project,” said Woodcock.
Brooklyn is in the early stages of peer-to-peer energy transferring
Brooklyn is also trying to create sustainable energy with power-to-power energy trading.
The experimental project, called Brooklyn Microgrid, allows customers to become the owner of renewable energy. Residents team up and sell excess electricity credits virtually. Customers can avoid working with electricity companies and instead take part in creating a peer-to-peer business. This means they do not have to wait for the power company if there are power failures or an outage.
According to the New York Times, the project includes plans to create a roughly five-square-block area, that will be situated around a collection of public housing projects or near a hospital. This would disconnect them from the grid and allow them to operate independently in case of a power failure.
The project is still in the early stages, but has 50 participants so far.