Pictured is the Buckman’s Inc. warehouse building atop which Metro-Tek Electrical Services will soon begin installing nearly 3,000 high efficiency photovoltaic solar modules. When completed, the solar energy system at Buckman’s Inc. will be one of the largest in Pennsylvania. Photo by John Strickler/The Mercury

POTTSTOWN — For a business to be successful, it must have a vision and be able to look at the big picture, according to John Hangar, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Hangar used those words to describe the forward-thinking efforts of family-owned Buckman’s Inc. during a press conference held at the pool and ice melt chemical/ski shop business headquarters Thursday.

Buckman’s Inc., with the help of a $520,000 federal grant funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has begun the process of installing solar panels on the warehouse roof of its Airport Road facility.

The solar panel installation will convert the sun’s rays into electricity to power the company’s chemical plant and, will, at times, generate a surplus of electricity that will be “sold” back to the grid. The solar energy system is being engineered and installed by Kunkletown-based Metro-Tek Electrical Services.

Buckman’s Inc. President Jeff Buckman told an audience of roughly 50 people gathered for the project’s announcement at the Buckman’s warehouse that the solar installation was part of a four-pronged plan to “go green.” Buckman said the company also plans to install a wind turbine 180 feet above the headquarters, install solar hear in all three buildings on the property and, finally, use solar power to heat the company’s five ski and snowboard shops in the region.

“It’s fun to say you’re going green, but we didn’t want to use a lot of green doing that,” Buckman said. “Unfortunately the pricetag of solar is very expensive.”

Buckman’s could not have embarked on the project without Limerick Township, state, and federal funding. Buckman noted that the half-million-dollar ARRA grant was a first for his company. Also supportive of the project was DEP, Metro-Tek and Congressman Jim Gerlach, R-6th Dist.

“I’ve never received a grant before. If you’re wondering what it’s like — it’s fun,” Buckman joked.

Buckman said Metro-Tek has made the project “very easy” for his company.

Reiner Jaeckle, Metro-Tek’s vice president of operations, said the company has been a utility industry contractor for roughly three decades.

Jaeckle explained that the 620 kilowatt solar energy system will cover the entire roof of the warehouse building. The system will produce 700,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year from the nearly 3,000 high efficiency solar modules to be installed on the warehouse roof.

The installation is projected to be complete in April 2010. To date, Metro-Tek has completed the underground portion of the install, bringing an AC transmission line out to the power grid.

“Weather permitting, we will start the rooftop install within the next two weeks,” Jaeckle said.

The solar energy generated by the installation will offset 850,000 pounds

of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to conserving more than 40,000 gallons of gasoline, according to a Metro-Tek press release.

Hangar said he wanted to put the project into a bigger context, with regard to the economy and the environmental impact.

He referenced the recession the U.S. has been in since December 2007, and noted the country has lost more than 7 million jobs since that time.

“In September 2008 we had a real threat of a great depression” in this country, Hangar said, noting up to 700,000 jobs were being lost a month from that point on. It was a situation that “could have lead to 25 percent unemployment,” Hangar noted.

The $520,000 grant awarded to Buckmans Inc. was possible “because the government acted to break that fall in private demand by passing the Stimulus Bill in 2009,” Hangar said. The grant was part of a $787 billion fiscal stimulus that “came from the federal taxes we all paid,” he said. Pennsylvania is receiving $18 billion of that stimulus money, some of it in the form of tax cuts, he said. Of the state’s allocation, $123 million was designated for clean energy projects.

“We need projects like this. We want to be growing jobs. This country, knock wood, is stabilizing,” Hangar said, calling the Buckman’s solar installation “a great project. That will work producing zero percent pollution energy for 25 years.

“We’re trying to make sure this money is an asset to the future — not a debt to the future,” Hangar said. “If we get more of these systems up and running, it’s going to make a big difference.”

Pennsylvania is becoming a leader in renewable energy and is second in the nation in wind power generation, according to Hangar. The Buckman’s Inc. solar installation is one of 13 like projects in the state, he said.

Matthew Solt, Metro-tek’s CEO, noted that the $520,000 grant is covering 12 percent of the solar panel system’s cost (making the total cost about $4.3 million). Solt said 72 percent of the costs are paid for.

Additionally, Buckman’s will earn renewable energy credits and will not have to purchase the 720,000 kwh of electricity it currently does.

Overall, the project will save the company $5 million over the next 25 years, he said.

Buckman said he’s going to install a monitor in his office to keep track of the energy generated by the solar panels.

The facility will also help to teach local students about clean energy. Buckman’s and Metro-Tek are partnering with the Pottstown School District to provide a renewable energy curriculum for middle school students (grades 6-8).

John Armato, the school district’s director of community relations, said part of a remewable energy curriculum and student guide has already been developed for middle school students. The district will be looking at high school students to study the Buckman’s project as part of a career development initiative, Armato said.

“The school district is pretty excited about this,” he said, noting field trips to see Buckman’s solar installation and to Metro-Tek are part of the plan.

On the Net:

Buckman’s Inc.:

www.buckmansinc.com

Metro-Tek Electrical Services: www.metroelectrical.com

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