Drive by too quickly, and surface of the new roof at Sunflower Natural Foods Market may look like just a new kind of roofing. In a way it is. But look again.

There are now 153 solar panels up there, installed over new 30-year shingles, in a massive array that covers almost the entire south-facing slope of the building. It’s a 32,000-watt system with the potential to collect around 15 percent of the energy needed to power the market’s lights, coolers, freezers and other systems. At times when more electricity is being produced than Sunflower needs, the surplus will be fed back into the grid through what’s called “net metering.”

Solar power is just the latest move toward sustainability for Bob Whitcomb and his wife Roz Balkin, whose personal and professional commitments in this area span over 30 years. Sunflower Natural Foods Market opened on June 15, 1978. The shop currently employs 35 people and serves over 600 customers daily. Those that don’t walk, cycle or drive from within Woodstock or its environs, travel from as near as Albany and as far as Long Island and New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

“My wife and I have been concerned and actively focused on environmental issues for many years,” says Whitcomb. “We have done a lot with recycling, packaging reduction and energy reduction at home and at Sunflower … we have (also) influenced many of our friends and customers.”

Balkin says she has been on an “earth awareness track” for more than 35 years and uses only organic gardening practices for both food and flowers. “As Bob’s wife and business partner, that caring has been paramount in my concerns about how we run the store and what products we carry.” The couple has also actively investigated alternative energy for the past decade.

“Often we have looked at the roof over Sunflower and thought about capturing the energy that descends upon it,” says Whitcomb, adding “About two years ago, with encouragement from Scott Goldwyn of Stone Ridge Electric, we started down the path that has led us to having this incredible 32,000 watt array on our roof today.” Goldwyn was affiliated with a company called Solar Works, and was one of a number of folks who eventually influenced the project in some way.

“We got very excited about the possibilities,” says Whitcomb, adding “The research began and after a while we started talking with Todd Koelmel and Jason Spiotta from SOLARgeneration.”

SOLARgeneration, headquartered just up the road from Sunflower, was ultimately contracted for the project. Installation began in mid August. Racking was mounted to the roof over a two-week period, and the panels went up over three days.

And Koelmel and Spiotta are quick to point out they weren’t on the job entirely alone. SOLARgeneration formed in 2005 and moved into the office near Sunflower about a year later. Koelmel and Spiotta received some of their training from another area practitioner, Larry Brown of Sun Mountain, who spent a few days working beside them on the roof at Sunflower.

“He was one of the two instructors that really pioneered the solar PV (photovoltaic) training classes over the last 10 years at the Ashokan Field Campus,” says Koelmel, adding “He is the guy who got us started and he gave us a hand for a few days up on the roof here—just for fun.” Shokan Electric handled the AC interconnection.

At Sunflower Natural Foods the photovoltaic panels, or “solar modules,” are wired in three sub arrays. They supply DC power, or direct current. It’s then converted to AC, or alternating current through three inverters mounted on the rear of the building.

With Whitcomb’s objective being to pack the most powerful system possible onto his roof, Koelmel says they were limited to providing the most efficient panels available. These high quality, 210 watt Sanyo modules were purchased through SunWize Technologies in nearby Kingston. The first bank of panels went online on September 2, and on September 4 the remaining two banks were activated.

A real time monitor of the system’s performance will be added in-store and to www.sunflowernatural.com, offering visitors a better visual handle on what this new system really means. The Web interconnect will also send an e-mail alert to SOLARgeneration if anything goes wrong within the system, minimizing possible downtime.

Powering any market is a monumental task (freezers, refrigerators, lights, computers, those convenient doors that open and close as you approach…), and for Sunflower—which has expanded into adjacent storefronts twice over the years—even a solar system as large as this one can supply only a small fraction of the energy needed.

With such a high energy usage, Sunflower has adopted many measures in recent years to use more renewable sources of energy, and to reduce energy usage. In early 2007, Sunflower upgraded its display freezers, reducing its energy demand by 25 percent. One year ago Sunflower contracted with Central Hudson to purchase 50 percent of the energy delivered by the utility from renewable or “green” sources, according to Whitcomb. And of course over the years the switch has been made to energy-saving fluorescent and compact fluorescent lighting, biodegradable cutlery, corn-based cups for hot beverages, and operating guidelines that reduce waste from the back office to the checkout lines wherever possible.

“With the panels on our roof we will be using about 65 percent green electricity, cutting our dependence on traditional sources and reducing our carbon emissions,” Whitcomb says.

Meter readings immediately showed a reduction in the amount of power Sunflower was drawing from the grid when the system was activated September 4, leaving no doubt that the electric bills will be smaller in the future, Whitcomb says.

Of course, an investment such as this has its own hefty price tag, around $240,000. The New York State Energy and Research Development Authority, NYSERDA, covered about half, and this was a major motivating factor. Whitcomb says the state agency was preparing to reduce their coverage when Sunflower moved quickly in January to maximize reimbursements. The business ended up paying about half. There’s also a federal tax credit and accelerated depreciation. “We’re hoping to see a payback of less than 10 years,” says Whitcomb. “The materials and panels tend to weaken over time. The warranty is about 20 years and the expectancy a little more.”

“This system … at Sunflower only happened because the state legislature allowed it to happen,” says Koelmel. “About a year ago the legislature allowed non-residential netmetering (credit for electricity sold back to the grid when excess is produced). This has totally opened up the market in New York State for large solar installations.”

“There may be days in the colder months, the spring and fall, where (Sunflower) is not running all the air conditioners, freezers and produce coolers, where he could be sending electricity back to the grid,” says Koelmel. “A meter that spins in both directions automatically is really the key to this system.”

“Most of our business up to this point has been residential,” says Koelmel, adding, “That is a result of netmetering rules. Over the past year we’re going into more and more commercial systems.”

On the federal level, recent administrations have tremendously increased the tax credit for solar equipment. Under the Bush stimulus package in the fall of 2008, the cap of $2,000 on a federal tax credit up to 30 percent was removed.

The Obama administration has gone even further, contributing to a push for “solar to happen in a big way,” according to Koelmel. “That was a huge benefit,” he adds, recalling that just about every project previously hit the cap before the 30 percent credit was realized.

Both NYSERDA-authorized installers, Koelmel and Spiotta help their clients take full advantage of the programs out there to help with the costs of solar installations.

“I think it’s an amazing step that Bob took for his business, to invest in something that not only helps the environment but boosts the morale of the town,” says Koelmel, adding, “We’re on the roof working and people in the parking lot are giving us the thumbs-up. People are really being positive.” “A lot of people in town have commented how impressed they are,” adds Spiotta. “It really sets a tone for the town,” he says.

Small or large, Koelmel says he think there’s always an upside to a solar installation, but admits he’s occasionally encountered no-win situations. “Unfortunately, occasionally a potential customer will contact us who has a great interest in going solar but their property … doesn’t have enough exposure. With piece of land that’s completely wooded, there’s nothing we can do if they don’t have the desire to remove trees,” he says.

For more about SOLARgeneration, visit www.solargeneration.net.