Solar panel project for Bloomington buildings moves forward

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - A nearly $1 million project to equip Bloomington City Hall and other buildings with solar panels has cleared its first hurdle.

The city now has available funding thanks to a $48 million tax increment financing bond issue approved earlier this year, The Herald-Times (http://bit.ly/1NDRHp9 ) reports. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission last week approved the concept for the solar project as an appropriate use of funds from the bond issue, starting it down the road to fruition.

The commission hasn't yet officially approved funds for the project, which has an estimated cost of $921,750. The project has been in the works for years.

The estimated timeline to complete the project is two years. It would include putting a full white roof on Bloomington City Hall and police station, installing improved awnings over Showers Plaza, and putting solar panels on the structures as well as Bloomington Animal Shelter.

City sustainability coordinator Jacqui Bauer said a conservative estimate would see the city saving about $10,000 a year for $200,000 worth of solar panels on City Hall alone. Having solar power would help shave the city's peak monthly electric consumption, she said.

City Hall has cut its energy consumption in half in the past decade or so, Bauer said, and solar costs have also fallen.

"That means the universe is telling us it's time to put up solar panels," she said.

Bauer is working on plans to let residents buy into the city's purchase of solar panels. The city would buy the panels at a lower cost than for a residential installation.

"We're hoping to get lots of people excited about solar and make this a community project," she said.

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Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com