New Construction: Solar plans taking shape

A $250,000 business remodeling and installation of two solar panels led construction activity here during the month of March when 20 construction permits totaling $448,808 were issued by the City of Vernon, contributing to a year-to-date construction total of $654,957 for the first three months of 2019.
Both the March and year-to-date totals are well above the $56,242.25 in construction permits issued in March, 2018 and the year-to-date total for the first three months of 2018 of $213,792.25.
The permits for the solar panels were issued to Amy Mints at 3524 Wilbarger on March 1 which totaled $71,440 and to Douglas Jeffrey at 1521 Main also on March 1 which totaled $54,000. Davis Electric is the contractor for the two projects.
Douglas Jeffrey and his wife, Molly, own The Refinery at 1521 Main, which is a gift shop and local event venue. Jeffrey said the decision to go with solar panels to provide climate control to their business was made as an energy efficiency move though it comes with a high up-front cost.
“We’ll have a ‘zero’ electric bill,” Jeffrey said. “Sometimes older buildings can be more expensive to heat or cool.”
Jeffrey said he should see a 7- to 8-year payout from the 63 solar panels to be installed on the building’s roof. He said the units each have 22 kilowatts.
“We’re happy we could do it and others in town are doing it,” he said. “We have a lot of sun in Texas so we’ll get a lot of use out of it.”
A permit for a $250,000 remodeling project at 2803 Wilbarger was issued to RFJ Properties on March 25. Cunningham-Clark is the contractor for that project.
Other March construction permits issued by the City of Vernon are listed in the online edition.