Eagle Solar Has Landed!

Eagle Solar Has Landed!

Thursday, 30 December 2010 18:04

Eastern Christian School Association's solar energy company, Eagle Solar LLC, received its first shipment of solar generating panels in the week before Christmas and began installation of the equipment on December 22. Eagle Solar was formed by Eastern Christian in 2010 to own and operate a solar energy system on the roofs of Eastern Christian's three school buildings with the goal of reducing operating costs and generating new revenues to support the school.

Eagle Solar has the potential to generate $7,000,000 in economic benefit to Eastern Christian over the next 20 years through the combination of reduced operating costs and enhanced revenue. Operating costs will be reduced because the solar generating equipment owned by Eagle Solar will produce nearly all of the electricity needed in Eastern Christian's school buildings. At current electricity rates, this savings is estimated at approximately $80,000 per year. In addition, Eagle Solar will produce new revenues of approximately $360,000 per year through the sale of solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), which were created by legislation enacted by the New Jersey legislature in 1999. Stated another way, Eagle Solar has the potential to generate nearly $9,200 in economic benefit over the next twenty years for every student enrolled in Eastern Christian School!

The Eagle Solar project has been underway for over a year with thousands of hours of work invested by numerous members of the Eastern Christian School community. Much of the work completed to date has been behind the scenes in areas as diverse as system design, contract negotiation, financing and corporate formation. Eagle Solar LLC, the Eastern Christian owned company that owns the solar generating equipment, was formed in June, 2010. The New York City law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler advised on the corporation formation and the legal transactions involved. Through this past summer negotiations were carried out to secure financing for the project with Atlantic Stewardship Bank of Midland Park, NJ, and to contract with Flemington, NJ based Sun Farm Network for the purchase and installation of the solar equipment. These negotiations led to the placement of an order for 1,721 solar panels and related equipment in October.

The initial delivery of Eagle Solar's equipment occurred on December 21 with the arrival of three trailer loads of solar panels at Eastern Christian Elementary and Middle Schools (ECES & ECMS). The panels were loaded onto the roofs of both buildings in the days immediately before Christmas and installation began on December 22. Eastern Christian anticipates that the installation at ECES and ECMS will be completed by January 15 and that electricity generation for these buildings will begin in February. Delivery of solar panels to Eastern Christian High School (ECHS), approximately one-half of Eagle Solar's total capacity, is scheduled for mid-February and Eastern Christian anticipates beginning electricity generation at ECHS in April.

Eagle Solar has the potential to make a major contribution to the affordability of Christian education for Eastern Christian parents and to the long-term sustainability of our school. We thank God for continuing to provide for our school through projects such as Eagle Solar and through the many talented individuals that he provided to our school community to make this dream a reality!