Solar panels hidden in the heart of downtown Bristol

By Scott Pickering
Posted 11/10/17

For years, Mark Matrone pledged that if the John Andrade Insurance company ever put a new roof on their building downtown, he would install solar panels. In February, they put in a new roof. In …

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Solar panels hidden in the heart of downtown Bristol

Posted

For years, Mark Matrone pledged that if the John Andrade Insurance company ever put a new roof on their building downtown, he would install solar panels. In February, they put in a new roof. In March, they started looking into solar panels. On Nov. 2, they started producing their own electricity from the sun.

“I have to say, I’m kind of proud of it,” said Mr. Matrone, president of the insurance agency. “The whole process was a little daunting, because there is so much paperwork, but we want to be a responsible partner in the community, doing our best to to be ‘green.’ ”

Built in the 1940s, the building fronts Hope Street in the heart of the downtown district. It is across from the Colt School, a couple of doors north of the Rogers Free Library.

It has a flat roof with a short, two-foot-high wall around the exterior, making it an ideal location to hide solar panels in a historic district. It now has 28 panels angled south toward the sun, capable of producing 10.1 killowatts of electricity. The juice produced by those panels feeds directly into the region’s power grid, and the insurance agency will receive National Grid credits based on how much electricity it produces. Mr. Matrone said they should be able to cut their annual electric bill in half.

Installing the panels cost $46,300, but John Andrade got a lot of help with the project. With a state grant, federal tax credits and bonus depreciation, the net first- year cost is $11,756, according to Mr. Matrone. “The actual payback is estimated at nine and a half years based on today’s electrical rates, and the rates will only rise in the future,” Mr. Matrone said.

In addition, he said, the solar panels are an asset on the property, and they should have a long lifespan. The new roof should be good for at least 40 years, and the panels are warranteed for 24 years.

As shown in the aerial photo at right, the roof is about half-full with solar panels. They originally planned more.

“When we engineered it, we had to cut back because the roof could only handle so much weight,” Mr. Matrone said.

After talking about this project for so many years, Mr. Matrone feels good about it. “Wayne Clemens (president of Clem’s Electric on Gooding Avenue) installed solar panels a few years ago, and he raved about it,” Mr. Matrone said. “I always said we would do it when we got a new roof, and we did.”

The long approval process included a comprehensive application for the state grant, as well as building and historic district permits. Newport Renewables, which has been installing solar panels on homes and businesses for years, assisted with all aspects of the project, from application to installation.

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.