Punching the Clock: A rising power
One home-grown New Berlin business has been ahead of the curve in saving its customers money – and saving the planet.
More than 30 years ago, David Austin was an electrical engineering student at Clarkson University, a leading technology school, when the United States entered a political crisis with several allied Arab nations over its controversial support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The result was the 1973 oil embargo.
With cars lining up at the gas pumps, Austin began exploring alternative energy options. Far ahead of his time, he found Clarkson didn’t offer a single course on solar power.
Not discouraged, he began the ground work for his own alternative energy company and changed his major, graduating with a bachelor of science in small business.
In 1978, Austin opened his business in the Town of New Berlin, focusing on solar, wind and geothermal renewable energies, and called it Great Brook Enterprises. Today, the company is called Great Brook Solar NRG, LLC.
“It may have been too far ahead of its time back then,” joked Austin, who explained that early on he struggled financially and was a “one-man operation.”
Today, Great Brook Solar NRG has six employees, including two, two-man installation teams, an engineer and office manager who specializes in obtaining government grants for customers.
This past spring, the company earned local headlines after installing 54 solar panels on the roof of the New Berlin Library.
Intrigued by the rising interest, I contacted Dave and traveled with him Monday as he carried out an electrical inspection of a recently-completed solar project.
First, it’s important to understand that in order to run an alternative energy business, one must be skilled at navigating the monetary incentive winds of an often over-bureaucratic system, at the state and federal level, that can change depending on the current political storm.
However, in light of the rising cost of energy, environmental awareness and improvements in technology, alternative energy is making its way into the American mainstream.
“I’ve been doing it for 30 years and the business comes and goes. It’s been pretty good lately, but in the 80s, the industry was enjoying steady growth in the U.S. and in Europe. But in 1985, President Reagan ended the tax credits (monetary incentives for alternative energy) and took the solar panels, installed by Carter, off the White House. The European markets kept on growing, but in this country we actually started going backwards,” said Dave.
Times have changed since then and government grants have made the cost of constructing solar and geothermal systems much more affordable.
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) offers incentives based on the amount of energy the systems create. New York also offered income tax credit for the projects and so does the federal government.
Dave carries a sheet containing an example of a typical $38,908 system that he uses as a rough example for his customers. Forty grand sounds like a lot of money, but subtract the estimated grants – $13,120 from NYSERDA, $5,000 in NY tax credits and another $6,236.44 in federal tax credits – and that leaves the homeowner with less than half the original cost, $14,551.71.
The benefits of the systems depend on a number of variables, including the amount of sunlight the panels receive and size of your home. Most receive an estimated 3 to 5 percent return on their investment and earn back the cost of the project in energy savings in about 15 to 20 years.
On top of the economic incentive, the system would reduce a person’s carbon emissions by 5,390 pounds annually.
Dave himself is an advocate for the environment, but sees alternative energy as simply more practical.
“I believe that man was created to take care of the Earth and should exercise good stewardship, instead of exploiting it for all it’s worth. We should work with nature instead of against it. If we don’t start working for nature, it will inevitably start working against us. It has already. For every decision you make, there are consequences. It’s just how it all works,” said Dave.
Dave and I traveled to a Laurens residence in Otsego County in his hybrid Toyota Prius, which gets 55 miles a gallon. Great Brook had just installed four pole-mounted solar panels.
The homeowner explained that the project cost a total of about $50,000, but they had only paid $10,000 after receiving government aid.
Dave confirmed the amounts, saying, “Yes, they got a very good deal and got into some programs just in time.” The couple estimated they would save more than $1,000 in electricity a month.
After meeting with an electrical inspector, Dave and I reviewed the work his men had done and put the system through a test run. The inspector said he had been doing more solar system inspections than ever before, after more than 20 years on the job.
Dave said a good way to “get a sense of the confidence of the industry” was to look at the manufacturer’s warranties for the systems.
“When I started this 30 years ago, an inverter might have a warranty for maybe a year. Today, a converter warranty now sits at 10 years,” he said.
“The industry has come a long way,” he added.
More than 30 years ago, David Austin was an electrical engineering student at Clarkson University, a leading technology school, when the United States entered a political crisis with several allied Arab nations over its controversial support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The result was the 1973 oil embargo.
With cars lining up at the gas pumps, Austin began exploring alternative energy options. Far ahead of his time, he found Clarkson didn’t offer a single course on solar power.
Not discouraged, he began the ground work for his own alternative energy company and changed his major, graduating with a bachelor of science in small business.
In 1978, Austin opened his business in the Town of New Berlin, focusing on solar, wind and geothermal renewable energies, and called it Great Brook Enterprises. Today, the company is called Great Brook Solar NRG, LLC.
“It may have been too far ahead of its time back then,” joked Austin, who explained that early on he struggled financially and was a “one-man operation.”
Today, Great Brook Solar NRG has six employees, including two, two-man installation teams, an engineer and office manager who specializes in obtaining government grants for customers.
This past spring, the company earned local headlines after installing 54 solar panels on the roof of the New Berlin Library.
Intrigued by the rising interest, I contacted Dave and traveled with him Monday as he carried out an electrical inspection of a recently-completed solar project.
First, it’s important to understand that in order to run an alternative energy business, one must be skilled at navigating the monetary incentive winds of an often over-bureaucratic system, at the state and federal level, that can change depending on the current political storm.
However, in light of the rising cost of energy, environmental awareness and improvements in technology, alternative energy is making its way into the American mainstream.
“I’ve been doing it for 30 years and the business comes and goes. It’s been pretty good lately, but in the 80s, the industry was enjoying steady growth in the U.S. and in Europe. But in 1985, President Reagan ended the tax credits (monetary incentives for alternative energy) and took the solar panels, installed by Carter, off the White House. The European markets kept on growing, but in this country we actually started going backwards,” said Dave.
Times have changed since then and government grants have made the cost of constructing solar and geothermal systems much more affordable.
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) offers incentives based on the amount of energy the systems create. New York also offered income tax credit for the projects and so does the federal government.
Dave carries a sheet containing an example of a typical $38,908 system that he uses as a rough example for his customers. Forty grand sounds like a lot of money, but subtract the estimated grants – $13,120 from NYSERDA, $5,000 in NY tax credits and another $6,236.44 in federal tax credits – and that leaves the homeowner with less than half the original cost, $14,551.71.
The benefits of the systems depend on a number of variables, including the amount of sunlight the panels receive and size of your home. Most receive an estimated 3 to 5 percent return on their investment and earn back the cost of the project in energy savings in about 15 to 20 years.
On top of the economic incentive, the system would reduce a person’s carbon emissions by 5,390 pounds annually.
Dave himself is an advocate for the environment, but sees alternative energy as simply more practical.
“I believe that man was created to take care of the Earth and should exercise good stewardship, instead of exploiting it for all it’s worth. We should work with nature instead of against it. If we don’t start working for nature, it will inevitably start working against us. It has already. For every decision you make, there are consequences. It’s just how it all works,” said Dave.
Dave and I traveled to a Laurens residence in Otsego County in his hybrid Toyota Prius, which gets 55 miles a gallon. Great Brook had just installed four pole-mounted solar panels.
The homeowner explained that the project cost a total of about $50,000, but they had only paid $10,000 after receiving government aid.
Dave confirmed the amounts, saying, “Yes, they got a very good deal and got into some programs just in time.” The couple estimated they would save more than $1,000 in electricity a month.
After meeting with an electrical inspector, Dave and I reviewed the work his men had done and put the system through a test run. The inspector said he had been doing more solar system inspections than ever before, after more than 20 years on the job.
Dave said a good way to “get a sense of the confidence of the industry” was to look at the manufacturer’s warranties for the systems.
“When I started this 30 years ago, an inverter might have a warranty for maybe a year. Today, a converter warranty now sits at 10 years,” he said.
“The industry has come a long way,” he added.
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