Solar Power Lighting Up Hauppauge Industrial Park

Five Hauppauge businesses have found a new way to increase their profit margins this spring as the economic recession drags on: solar power. 

Hauppauge Industrial Park companies turned to Mercury Solar Systems, a Hauppauge Industrial Association member, to have photovoltic solar energy systems installed over the winter months. These projects have a combined output of 300kW and could produce enough energy to power 26 average-sized homes. 

"There's no other place we have so much solar power in such a small area," said Ben Waller, head of Long Island Sales for Mercury Solar Systems. 

The single largest solar panel installation was at Hauppauge's Festo Corporation, a leading manufacturer of pneumatic and electromechanical systems. It had two 59kW solar energy systems consisting of 260 panels each installed at 395 Moreland Road.

Other businesses who purchased solar panel systems included Flexible Business Systems, Meopta USA, Hyde Park Moldings and Sterling Floor Designs. Their buildings had the ideal conditions for solar panel installations, according to Waller.

"In the Hauppauge industrial park, you have a lot of large, flat rooftops, most of which don't have many obstructions on them - such as airconditioning units or pipes -like restaurants or other retail buildings," he said.

Mercury Solar Systems installed a rooftop system on each building, in which solar panels are ballasted so they don't penetrate the ceiling. Each solar panel is tilted at 10 degree angle, according to the sales representative.

"When you tilt the solar panel a little bit towards the sun it produces more electricity per year," Waller said.

The installations are expected to bring two benefits to each company, Waller said, reducing their electrical expenses while increasing the value of their buildings.