Hartford-based steel and metals fabricator Shepard Steel said a rooftop solar array it installed this summer has exceeded production estimates, providing enough juice to cover 100 percent of its energy needs during the first three months of operation.
Shepard, which has about 110 employees, did not buy the 611-kilowatt system itself — located on the 80,000-square-foot roof of its Meadow Lane facility — but rather is purchasing discounted power through an agreement with Massachusetts-based installer Solect Energy.
Shepard said it had to purchase a new roof to make the project possible, which cost about $310,000.
The company, which says it can fabricate as much as 12,000 tons of steel annually, expects to save to save $30,000 a year on its electric bill for the next 25 years.
“Our new solar array is already delivering greater than expected savings to our energy-intensive operation, and the green, clean energy it produces has reduced our carbon footprint considerably,” chief financial officer Keith F. Wolf said in a statement. “Since commissioning the solar system we have produced all our structural steel components using solar energy.”
While the summer months provided enough sunlight to power 100 percent of Shepard’s operations, the company expects the system to produce less energy in the winter months.
