Allen Harim’s poultry processing plant in Harbeson, Delaware, is now drawing power from a six-acre field of solar panels. A ribbon cutting was held at the facility May 15. The 1.57 megawatt, multi-million dollar solar project features 4,992 solar panels, and is projected to generate 2.3 million kWh of power each year, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1,616 metric tons every year. 
 “This is another exciting environmental project for our company here in Harbeson and we are grateful to all our partners for making it happen,” said Joe Moran, president and CEO of Allen Harim. The energy produced by the solar panels will supply about 11 to 12 percent of the energy used at the Harbeson facility, he said.
Allen Harim will purchase 100 percent of the power produced from the solar panels under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The project was developed by Alternative Energy Development Group, Berwyn, Pennsylvainia, and is owned and operated by Onyx Renewable Partners.
“The addition of a multi-megawatt solar system which will generate clean, reliable and affordable power for decades to come for Allen Harim, fits perfectly with Allen Harim’s balanced approach to running a fiscally-prudent and environmentally-responsible company,” said Chris Fraga, founder and CEO of Alternative Energy Development Group.  “We applaud Allen Harim’s investors, their leadership team and the Harbeson staff for their vision and commitment to the project.” 


During the ribbon cutting ceremony, Fraga presented a check for $10,000 through the company’s Watts for Wishes charitable giving program to establish the Allen Harim Legacy Scholarship fund. Allen Harim will provide a $10,000 matching gift, and set up an endowed fund through the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore. 
The Allen Harim Legacy Scholarship will provide $2,500 scholarships for children of employees and growers to attend college or trade schools. The company plans to use the savings from the solar project to grow the endowed fund to provide up to five scholarships a year.
“Some people seem to think we have to choose between having a cleaner, stronger environment and having a robust economy. I disagree. It is possible to pursue policies that protect our environment and public health, while creating jobs and growing our economy,” said US Sen. Tom Carper, ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “By pursuing clean and green energy, businesses like Allen Harim can reduce energy costs and be more competitive. I’m also so very pleased that Allen Harim will reinvest in its employees by using some of the savings toward college scholarships. That’s a true commitment to our local community.”

AEDG is proud to announce its 2016 Partner of the Year Awards.   Each year, AEDG selects those partners whose dedication, commitment, and value-add to our mission to serve Customers is exemplary.  We are proud to announce the award recipients for 2016 Partner of the Year in the following categories:

• Customer (PPA Project):  Allen Harim Foods, Inc.
• Customer (Turnkey Develop-Sale-Purchase Project): Thos. Somerville Co.
• Professional Service Partner:  Mr. Steven E. Speece, Stevens & Lee
• Mid-Atlantic EPC Partner:  CMI Solar & Electric, Inc.
• Northeast EPC Partner:  Aegis Renewable Energy, Inc.
• Origination Partner:  APPI & Barry Casey & Associates
• Financial Partner:  Crestmark Bank

Continuing the banking relationship Crestmark Bank and AEDG originally formed in 2014, Crestmark closed on six Commercial & Industrial scale Solar PV PPA projects with AEDG on a tax equity sale-leaseback structure between September 2016 and January 2017.  The 3.61MWdc Solar PV project portfolio includes five (5) group-net-metered projects in the State of VT and a sixth project in the Commonwealth of MA, all PPA’s for private, for-profit customer off-takers.
"We're excited to continue to power AEDG’s growth and to be part of the alternative energy industry," said Larry Pearce, senior vice president, managing director of Corporate Joint Ventures. 
"From the beginning of our relationship in 2014 and through today, spanning 20 Project financings for Solar PV and Natural Gas Fuel Cell Projects, we continue to be impressed with Crestmark Bank’s team and commitment to entrepreneurial growth companies”, said Chris Fraga, Founder and CEO of AEDG.  “Crestmark lives their mission to be the bank who helps with innovative financing and lending solutions, and we are honored to count Crestmark as a true partner in achieving our mission to help customers save money and be sustainable". 

Through the responsible development of innovative and sustainable building products, CertainTeed has helped shape the building products industry for more than 110 years. Founded in 1904 as General Roofing Manufacturing Company, today, CertainTeed is North America’s leading brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, fence, decking, railing, trim, insulation, gypsum and ceilings.
Sustainability has long been a part of their value system and corporate culture. CertainTeed takes pride in providing the best products to meet today’s market needs, but they are also looking ahead to offer their customers innovations for tomorrow. They focus on creating value at the triple bottom line for all stakeholders. This means offering high performing, affordable products that enhance user’s comfort and well-being while reducing overall environmental impacts.
Last year, CertainTeed unveiled its new state-of-the-art North American corporate headquarters, located in Malvern, PA. The 320,000 square-foot campus underwent an $80 million renovation to showcase Saint-Gobain and its North American construction materials subsidiary. These new renovations also allowed CertainTeed’s new building to be awarded a LEED Platinum certification (the highest level) for both its interior and exterior. One of the aspects of the building that allowed CertainTeed to be awarded the LEED Platinum certification was the solar PV panels installed on the roof of the new building.
Alternative Energy Development Group developed the solar project for CertainTeed, integrating Solstice 265W monocrystalline Solar PV panels and SMA inverter. The system will produce 27,000 kWh’s annually. As part of the project, AEDG met with Saint Gobain’s safety and risk consultants, and the building’s third-party owners to make sure the roof would not be compromised due to the installation. The solar project and the building’s design encapsulate CertainTeed's commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency.
More about this building and the solar installation can be found using the link below:
https://vista.today/2016/11/saint-gobains-certainteeds-north-american-headquarters-malvern-showcase-sustainibility/
Timelapse video of CertainTeed installation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2SMpy7rrug

From our wide range of bar soap offerings to our cutting edge developments in the liquid skincare market, at Twincraft Skincare, we have established ourselves as an innovator in our industry.
This commitment to innovation doesn’t stop at developing new products or manufacturing processes, though. We are always looking for ways to drive our industry forward in a more sustainable way, and we are proud to announce that in this spirit, we have partnered with SolarSense to make alternative energy sources the primary power provider for our administrative and production facilities.
We have contracted for two remote-sited solar projects, both of which are interconnected to Green Mountain Power. The power produced by these two projects will offset approximately 70% of our total electric expenses at our Winooski and Essex facilities.
Twincraft has worked exclusively with SolarSense as the projects’ developer, investor, and long-term owner/operator. This company helps commercial- and industrial-scale clients reduce their energy demand and supply costs, and it was a natural fit for us to work with a company that understood our goal of being more sustainable in a financially viable way.
“We applaud and celebrate Twincrafts’ commitment to sustainability as part of their mission to innovate, formulate, create, and partner.” said Chris Fraga, Founder and CEO of SolarSense LLC.
http://www.twincraft.com/twincraft-skincare-invests-in-vermont-solar-power.html

WILMINGTON >> Cost savings and cleaner energy are cited as reasons behind the Hermitage Club's move to solar.
The 20-year power purchase agreements for energy will involve construction of five new solar farms by 2016. Two of the sites will be on Hermitage property, but all of them are expected to power up to 90 percent of the company's private ski resort operations at Haystack Mountain and maybe more.
Hermitage Club owner and founder Jim Barnes has been talking about the possibility of the project with SolarSense, an affiliate of Alternative Energy Development Group, for nearly a year.
"It's something that's been a priority to Jim (Barnes) and the Hermitage Club," said Meredith Morin, director of communications for the Hermitage Club. "There's so many interesting things about it."
All five sites are expected to produce an amount of energy that is greater than 2,900,000 kilowatt hours annually while reducing the carbon dioxide equivalent of 2,000 metric tons a year or 2,147,000 pounds of coal burned. Two 150kW projects will be located at the resort and three 500kW projects will be off premises.
"We will first be applying production credit to the Hermitage Club's Haystack (operations) and its large electrical consumption," SolarSense founder and CEO Chris Fraga said. "We will then apply additional production to the other various properties owned by Hermitage until we use up all of the production and credits that we are generating."
Fraga was referring to properties which include a golf course and airport. If all the solar farms are successfully developed, he believes the additional properties could be powered through the efforts. He said the third-party landowner sites are already under development.
"The total cost of the solar farms is in the $6 to $8 million range, depending on the final number of sites constructed," he said.
Design, planning and vetting for the Hermitage sites is currently underway. Fraga is looking at a location on the north side of an existing ski trail that follows the contour of the trail and a place above an existing water retention basin that would be elevated in a way to not interfere with the basin.
Permitting and utility approval is expected in the spring then construction would occur through the summer and fall.
"The hope is to be online and using this power by the end of 2016," Morin said, mentioning that she's heard "a few other rumblings on the horizon" for future clean energy plans such as electrical charge stations for cars.
SolarSense also has projects with the state of Vermont and several commercial clients. But the Hermitage project is one of the only groups using the credits rather than selling them, Morin said.
"We have elected not to sell those. It is total green power," she said. "I think it's such a huge commitment to the environmental sustainability of the area and really taking into account the way we, as a club and as Vermonters in general, consume energy and the way we're trying to find ways to be kinder in our consumption."
The ski resort alone has five lifts to receive power from the solar farms. SolarSense will develop, own and operate the projects while KRN Solar will design, engineer and construct them. Several Vermont-based professional service firms and trades groups are expected to contribute to the projects, which will generate new local municipal and state taxes.
Contact Chris Mays at cmays@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 273.

SolarSense is proud to announce the commissioning of Truss Engineering's Solar PV PPA on September 1st, 2015.  Founded in 1961, Truss Engineering Corporation is the leading manufacturer of wood roof and floor trusses in the western and southern New England regions.  Truss Engineering has earned a reputation, backed-up by independent industry inspection, of making the highest quality products available on the market.  Truss Engineering and SolarSense are excited about their 20-year PPA and relationship.

Allen Harim breaks ground on a multi-million dollar solar project at its Harbeson facility.  Six acres of land next to the Allen Harim facility in Harbeson will be dedicated to solar energy panels which will save the plant about 16 percent in energy costs. Chris Fraga is the CEO of Alternative Energy Development Group and explains the project.
Read More Here:
http://www.delaware1059.com/story.php?id=20230

Allen Harim Foods on Monday broke ground Monday on a solar farm planned for construction near its Harbeson poultry processing plant.
The 1.57-megawatt photovoltaic solar panel array is expected to supply about 11 percent of the energy used by the plant.
“This project is in line with our strategic goals of environmental sustainability moving forward in Delaware,” Allen Harim CEO Steve Evans said in a release.
The company recently signed a 20-year lease agreement with project developer SolarSense, an affiliate of Alternative Energy Development Group of Berwyn, Pa.
Under the deal, Allen Harim will buy the 2.3 million kilowatts of power produced by the solar farm each year, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1,616 metric tons, company officials said.
“This project is projected to save Allen Harim 16 percent in energy costs during the first year of operation, said Chris Fraga, CEO of Alternative Energy Development Group.
The solar array will stretch across about 450 yards of a 6-acre parcel near Allen Harim’s Harbeson plant off Harbeson Road (Del. 5). Construction will take about three months, weather permitting, company officials said.

ST. ALBANS — Everyone’s day was made a little brighter Monday. There was a Make-A-Wish Vermont donation, a foster child recovering from leukemia with her forever mom, Vermont’s dedication to clean energy finding success as solar panels churned out electricity, and the sun above.
“It’s a great day to be celebrating a solar project and celebrating a community donation,” said AllEarth Renewables CEO David Blittersdorf at the Northwest State Correctional Facility (NSCF).
Everything came together at the St. Albans prison, where Dept. of Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito, Blittersdorf, project development company SolarSense CEO Chris Fraga, Make-A-Wish Vermont CEO James Hathaway, Alburgh nine-year-old Taylor Wells and her adoptive mother, Cheryl, and a number of others gathered.
Everyone stood amidst 65 solar trackers (24 panels each), a 500-kilowatt, $1.8 million project that went live last December. The trackers, manufactured and maintained by AllEarth Renewables of Williston and kept on land leased from the state, generate around 800,000 kilowatt-hours per year for the facility and seven other state buildings in Montpelier.