Avi Avidan has led Avidan Management, a family-owned real estate company, through one of its biggest endeavors: a large-scale renewable energy project. Over the past few months, Avidan Management has completed the largest rooftop-mounted solar panel system in the U.S., installing 17,745 solar panels on one of the firm's facilities in Edison, N J-an array that measures 656,225 square feet, or about 17 acres. The project not only refocuses attention on environmental business practices, but provides numerous benefits to Avidan Management and its tenants. Avi Avidan discusses how Avidan Management made this achievement possible.
What encouraged you to take on such a large-scale renewable project?
When we looked at the amount of power we were consuming in the buildings, of which about 200,000 square feet requires refrigeration, we were consuming approximately 12 million kilowatt hours per month, or $1.2 million per year. We thought that it would be ideal to make the largest impact by applying solar to the building where we could offset about 50 percent of our electric consumption that comes from the grid today. After the completion of the project, our goal is to be dependent on the grid for 50 percent of what the facility consumes.
What are the benefits of the solar power system? How will the rooftop-mounted solar power system affect the tenants of the building in Edison, New Jersey?
First, the benefit of the solar system is obviously reducing the costs of electricity. Secondly, we have reduced our carbon footprint by 50 percent because now we're generating half of our electricity through alternative means.
We are offering our tenants a reduced cost, about 30 percent less, on energy than what we currently pay per kilowatt hour to the utility company. And second, there are many companies out there who want to business with green companies and want to occupy buildings that are energy efficient and green. This can attract additional customers who would not otherwise do business with them.
What effects will the completion of this project have on the town of Edison? On the state of New Jersey?
First of all, during the construction, we hired about 120 people, so right off the bat, there was employment. And I think by offering electricity at reduced prices, we will attract more tenants to our building, or jobs as a result of that. I think the town will benefit from having occupied buildings and employees, which will have a direct effect on retail sales and possibly housing. People want to relocate to an area where they are working. I think the state of New Jersey becomes more competitive when projects like these happen. I think it attracts more businesses and employment.
What kind of financial support did you have for this project to make it a success? Was it hard to find financing for such a large-scale project?
The total cost of the project, including the replacement of the roof, which was necessary before we moved over to solar, was about $22 million. Probably, the hardest part of building this project was finding support. For the financing of it, we were very fortunate to partner up with Investors Savings Bank, which is a local savings bank here in New Jersey, who understood the importance of solar and the technology, and who ultimately provided us with the financing that made this project a reality. It was not easy. We went through a lot of resources before finding Investors Savings Bank, including Wall Street firms and hedge funds, but no one could supply us with the financing we needed. Investors Savings Bank was certainly a lifesaver; without them this project probably wouldn't have been done.
How did you find partners for the building part of the project? What qualities were important to you?
We had also found a very good partner in Solar Nation, who was our integrator, who constructed, designed, and built the project. They were very passionate about the project, which is something that we can all be proud of. They designed a project that was very flexible, efficient, and cost effective. And they built it in a professional and fast manner, which enabled us to go solar six months after we started the project. That was a big achievement, especially going through the winter when we got a lot of snow. We probably lost about two and a half months because of the snow, so the reality that we were able to build the project in four months was impressively fast.
When we started looking at this project, we were solicited by multiple companies, most of which were overseas companies who were trying to sell their products here in the United States. Ultimately, we made a decision that our company wanted to support the local economy. We made a point to buy all of our products out on the roof today that were made in the United States. The panels were produced by Solar World, whose headquarters are in Oregon. And we also bought the other components, the major components, from another company that manufactures here in the United States. It was very important to us. It was more money than if we had chosen an international manufacturer, but it was important for us to support our country.
Now that the project has been completed, what are your future plans for Avidan Management?
We are currently looking at two additional facilities to install solar on. I'm hoping to finalize my plans for that so we can start construction right away.
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