NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. -- It was a green idea when Neptune Beach city council voted to invest in solar panels to power City Hall, but a year and a half later the roof is still panel free.
"We bid [the project] out twice and both times we received no bids," said City Manager Jim Jarboe. "The reason, we understand is that all the money's made in the installation, and we want to do the installation ourselves."
According to the Neptune Beach building department, 150 panels would cost approximately $260,000 to purchase and install, but that cost would be cut in half if city employees did the installation.
Jarboe says the panels, which would save 80 to 100 percent of their energy costs, would be paid for by grants and council reserves. While they had hoped to purchase them from someone local, two rounds of soliciting bids and over $3,000 in advertising, has left them with no bids at all.
That's not surprising to Paul Nicholson. As a licensed solar contractor, he knows how quickly the savings can add up. His Neptune Beach home is covered in solar panels that have eliminated an electric bill for three of the past four months, and brought his total bill for all of 2011 below $250. But even he decided not to bid on the project, saying it's more complicated than city leaders think.
"I'm sure that the city has capable people that can do all this work, but if you're asking a contractor or provide them a systems, most people are going to want to install it to make sure it's installed properly. When people are trying to do things really inexpensively, there's allot of quality contractors or individuals that won't necessarily want to participate. Sometimes the lowest price is not always the best price."
Nicholson believes the liability is too much for quality area contractors, and he just hopes the savings are worth it for the city in the end.
"If they want to take responsibility for putting penetrations in their roof or doing those things, that's fine, as long as my city hall roof doesn't leak because of them trying to save a buck."
Mayor Harriett Pruett tells Action News she was worried grant money could be lost if a resolution was not found, but on Monday city council members approved a new agreement to push the project forward. Building Official Don Ford says the new agreement will likely include an amendment to the initial grant that allows a small part of the desired panel to be made oversees. In addition, they will likely purchase the parts directly from the manufacturer, which normally encourages going through a distributor.
No start date has been set.
