The installation, consisting of more than 30,000 solar modules, doubles the company’s entire installed solar generating capacity to 17 megawatts. It is situated on 65 acres previously zoned for residential development, 34 of which is used for solar. Hartz Mountain contracted with Madison, WI-based RMT to design and construct the array, which was financed by TD Bank.

Financing, too, is a factor in any future development. Hartz Mountain had purchased the Hamilton land in January/February 2011, and had already committed to the construction with RMT before the solar renewable energy certificate (SREC) market plunged during the summer. Certificates once priced at $650 each now are trading at $225.

“We were doing this no matter what,” Garb says. “We’re in this for the long haul.”

Fortunately, the weather thus far this winter has been good, and production has been healthy at all of the arrays – last winter, Garb points out, many rooftop arrays were covered in snow. However, the SREC price drop has halted new construction, for the time being.

“Because the RPS [Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard] goes up ever year, the demand goes up,” Garb says. “At some point, prices will go back up. But we’re not doing any more ground [arrays] until we see some clarity.”