Upper Moreland Business Owner Now Operating on Solar Energy

Last month, Bob Young had a brilliant idea.

He decided to power all buildings on the location of his small businesses with solar energy.

“Something I’ve always been into was alternative energy,” Young said.

Young is the president and founder of Young Construction and . His main office, a 2-story, 70-feet-by-35-feet building, is located at 2548 Wynadote Road in Willow Grove, where he shares office space with his wife’s business, Young Home Design and Staging.

Originally located in Abington, Young moved his operations to Upper Moreland in 1996. Young’s current location, over an acre long, also houses three more buildings:

• A 45-feet-by-50-feet employee/storage facility

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• And a 150-feet-by-50-feet warehouse

Green-minded initiatives

Over the years, Young’s interest in alternative energy has led him to make green-minded improvements with daily business operations. Such improvements have included drastically limiting the use of pesticides with landscaping jobs in favor of Integrated Pest Management, which offers a more environmentally friendly approach.

He is also updating his fleet of 25 trucks, used for year-round construction and snowplowing, that will incorporate green-technology to make cleaner emissions.

“With our new diesel trucks, the emissions that come out are almost as clean as the air that goes in,” Young said, adding that such advancement in technology offers more gas mileage and cost efficiency. “It’s just little steps.” 

However, according to Young, it was always in the back of his mind to find a way to power his facilities with green technology.

“I was actually thinking wind energy over solar,” he said. “I thought, with the exposure to the Turnpike I would have more wind, but with the research I did, it seemed that wind wasn’t the ideal situation in this area.”

GreenPoint.Energy's silver lining

Two years ago, through his ties after the landscaping work he completed at Sonic, Young was introduced to GreenPoint.Energy.

According to its website, GreenPoint.Energy is a Berwyn-based company that specializes in energy procurement, energy management and renewable energy development in both the private and public sectors.

Through a series of conversations with representatives at GreenPoint.Energy, Young said he was convinced on the benefits of solar power.

“We did an extensive analysis on his property and on the multiple buildings you see on site,” Jason Ulshafer, president of GreenPoint.Energy, said. “And, what we were able to do is, with PECO’s existing rate tariff structures, we can virtual net-meter other buildings on his site.”  

As president, Ulshafer runs the operations, engineering and construction for GreenPoint.Energy.

Virtual net metering

According to Ulshafer, a “virtual net meter” is a utility interconnect with PECO, which allows aggregated usage from a single source of energy, in this case the 117-feet-by-16-feet solar module array, located on Young’s warehouse, to distribute power to several other buildings within the same property.

According to Ulshafer, Young’s solar powered property became part of the energy grid during the week of Oct. 17. He added that the solar power system is estimated to output 28,000 kilowatt hours a year.

Cost and payback

According to Ulshafer, GreenPoint.Energy takes care of every detail concerning the installation and management. The cost for installation on a property the size of Young’s business is estimated at $100,000.

Ulshafer pointed out that business installing such alternative energy systems would almost immediately be reimbursed by up to 50 percent through federal and state rebates.

Furthermore, depending on the rate of output from Young’s solar energy, Young will have the opportunity to sell back energy to PECO, and receive credit on his energy bills based off of PECO’s retail rates.

And, while still a part of PECO’s energy grid, Young’s solar powered  virtual net meter will also help in reducing the need for dependence on PECO’s infrastructure, should the area receive power outages.

“We’re not saying that solar is the end-all-be-all,” Ulshafer said. “We’re saying that if we can use solar when it makes sense, we can extend the life of the grid.”

GreenPoint.Energy also offers Young the ability to see his real-time energy production through a virtual interface, which he can access on internet-capable devices.

The sun continues to rise on solar energy usage

According to Ulshafer, GreenPoint.Energy is installing solar panel arrays for both residential and commercial properties in several states. And, while, Young’s warehouse boasts an impressive 108 solar modules, Ulshafer said that his company is involved with even larger installations, such as the 9,000-module array at a window factory in Morgantown.

However, to both Ulshafer and Young’s knowledge, Young’s business in Upper Moreland is the first to fully convert all its facilities to solar power within the township and this section of the county.

“Everybody has to be the first at something,” Young said with a smile. “This is perfect for us.”