West Deptford Seeking Solar Proposals for RiverWinds

RiverWinds might have to consider dropping “Winds” and adding “Sun,” as a plan to power the community center with solar is going ahead, according to West Deptford officials.

The move is expected to save up to $350,000 at no cost to the township, which officials said will happen by letting a developer, who will sell the power to run RiverWinds at a discount, build and maintain the solar array.

A request for proposals on the project went out earlier this week, with a mid-August deadline, meaning work could begin just months.

“This is real–this is going to happen pretty quickly,” said Deputy Mayor Len Daws.

Instead of roof-mounted panels or a solar array on one of the open fields at RiverWinds, the township is looking to add the solar array on the community center’s parking lots, Daws said.

It’s an idea that’s becoming more popular–solar canopies are in place at the Trenton Amtrak/NJ Transit garage, and have just recently been approved for parking lots at Rutgers University’s Livingston campus–and uses what are effectively giant carports with roof-mounted solar panels to generate power from otherwise unproductive space.

The township currently spends about $500,000 annually on power for RiverWinds, meaning the solar array could provide up to 70 percent of the community center’s energy needs.