sw sunshine

SUNSHINE TO EV!

Sustainable Westchester
is walking the walk

Sustainable Westchester has recently moved into its new offices on 40 Green Street in Mount Kisco, NY. As part of its mission, it will demonstrate the technologies that are at the core of its programs, starting with installing a solar PV array of the roof of the building it occupies. The developer will sign a lease with the Village that includes the replacement of the old roofing cover with a reflective layer. The solar panels will be bifacial, i.e. the sunlight will hit on both sides of the panels and generate more electricity.

An electricity storage component will be added to the system that will store the solar energy during peak sunlight and discharge electricity after sunset, which later contributes to compensating for that higher demand in the latter part of the day. The electricity produced by the system will be fed into the grid as a Community Solar. Low and Medium income communities in the Village will be given priority to subscribe and will receive the corresponding credits on their electricity bills.

The electricity produced by the solar system will maintain a secondary energy storage system that will be connected to a high-speed electric vehicle charging system. The charging station is a modular system that can be expanded as the car batteries grow in capacity. The initial power will be 150 kW – the fastest mass produced available on board charging power. It can be expanded to 350 kW by adding 50 kW modules and by adding storage. The system, while connected to grid charging for emergency makeups, will essentially dispense solar energy into the cars, independently from the grid, adding a resiliency component.

Geothermal
Heating & Cooling

The current heating and cooling systems of the buildings are at their end of life. As part of this Headquarters model, Sustainable Westchester is working with BrightCore to bring geothermal as a showcase demonstration of the capabilities of the technology for heating and cooling of commercial buildings. Sustainable Westchester is promoting both air and ground source geothermal under a grant of the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA).