Special Bd. of Aldermen — 08/06/2019 Page 13
Alderman Dowd
| have a few questions and actually the first one is from something you originally said. If you put them on a roof
and the roof has to be replaced, how difficult is it to have the panels moved and reinstalled and is that
something that comes with the warranty or is that additional cost if the roof has to be replaced, you need the
additional cost allocated to move and reinstall the panels?
Mr. Hasselbeck It is not difficult to do that, but it is time consuming. In the State of New Hampshire 100% of a
solar array needs to be installed or in this case removed by a licensed electrician or someone involved in the
electrical apprenticeship program. So it is labor, it is significant labor that would be an expense. So that is one
of the key reasons why when we started out with this portfolio of 30 plus municipally owned buildings, we
narrowed it down to what we determined was the highest value. Frankly we want to avoid that scenario where
you do have to remove and then reinstall them.
Alderman Dowd
So you want a roof that is got at least a warranty of the same warranty you have with the solar panels?
Mr. Hasselbeck Not necessarily because that’s not foreseeable. So | guess and you know we can get into how
the economics work in a little bit more detail. But these systems do reach a breakeven point well before the end
of their useful life soan. And any power production or electricity savings has that breakeven point, that’s all
gravy essentially. So you know if there is a roof replacement need at year 30 of the solar system, you know,
that solar system had paid for itself multiple times over and you’ve seen those benefits there. What we want to
avoid is the need to replace that roof and the need to remove and reinstall those solar panels within that 15 year
time frame, that’s kind of the break even.
Alderman Dowd
I’m hugely in favor of solar panels but just some questions because we may be building a new school and
putting one on top and cost is an extremely important characteristic. So from a maintenance standpoint you
would have to plan buying a roof say on top of a school, that would normally cost hypothetically say $50,000.00
to replace. It might be double if you’ve got solar on it and you have to move it and reinstall it.
Mr. Hasselbeck Potentially but there’s also things that we or any other solar developer and that roofing
contractor and that roofing manufacturer could do on the front end to basically avoid that need. We just recently
completed a project for the Dover Technical High School; brand new building, brand new roof. We were able to
get involved with the Joint Building Committee early and the architect early and they made some decisions on
the design phase which had a minor increased cost to the roof, but avoided or will significantly reduce future
expenses. Things like backing board and you know millimeter thickness.
Alderman Dowd
So the other question | have is on a year to year basis, how much preventative and correction maintenance has
to be done on the solar system? Who does it and who pays for it?
