By SARA KENNEDY - skennedy@bradenton.com

The city of Bradenton is in the final stages of installing 294 solar panels atop the roof at City Hall.

The mono-crystalline photovoltaic cells, paid for with $310,331.25 in grant money from the U.S. Department of Energy, generate electricity from the sun’s rays, said Benjamin Bird, energy efficiency conservation and sustainability manager.

They are expected to produce over the course of a year about 80,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, accounting for a savings in energy costs of about $5,000 to $7,000 annually, Bird said.

That equates to about 5 percent of the energy usage of the building, which also houses the police department and the auditorium, said Bird.

“It’s ready to go,” said Bird, but he added that the City Centre Solar Power System is still undergoing final tweaks and will probably not be up and running for a couple of weeks.

The installation began at the end of June, and was done by a local company, EcoSolar of Sarasota, Bird said. All of the system’s components are American-made, he said.

The panels are anchored to the roof with concrete forms and hooks.

“It’s designed for certain wind loads and able to withstand hurricanes,” explained Bird.

The solar array is part of a five-year plan designed to encourage energy efficiency and conservation, said Tim Polk, the city’s director of planning and community development.

“The idea is to save money, that’s what we’re trying to do with the five-year plan,” he said.

Also part of the plan are eight electric car-charging stations designed to accommodate all-electric cars, such as the new Ford Focus Electric and the Nissan Leaf, as well as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, such as the Chevy Volt or the Fisker Karma, said Bird.

Some of the stations are already installed, he said.

Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2011/10/05/3548135/solar-cells-now-top-bradenton.html#ixzz1f16xIIAp