Deutsche Bank completes 250-KW solar project at Piscataway facility

Deutsche Bank today announced the completion of a 250-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system at its Piscataway, NJ, office.

The roof-mounted array will offset a portion of the facility’s electricity consumption and reduce its carbon emissions by 143 metric tons annually, equivalent to 16,232 gallons of gasoline.

The solar installation consists of 1,066 roof-mounted PV modules that will generate approximately 270,000 kWh per year at the 83,000-square-foot Piscataway facility. The solar installation is capable of providing nearly 100 percent of the facility’s demand for power from the grid during peak daylight hours, and it will produce more than 12 percent of the electricity needed to operate the facility annually.

An online energy monitoring system will track the facility’s power consumption, solar production and system efficiency. The system was designed and installed by Vanguard Energy Partners, a New Jersey-based leader in the design and installation of large-scale solar electric systems.

The solar installation is part of Deutsche Bank’s global commitment to be carbon neutral by 2012. As part of that program, the Bank has reduced its annual energy consumption by 19 million kWh in the Americas and 54 million kWh globally through a wide range of efficiency measures.

Of the remaining global energy consumption, 67 percent comes from renewable sources, with 100 percent of the energy in the US, UK, Italy, Switzerland and Germany coming from renewables. In the US Deutsche Bank also was one of three firms to be named a “Green Power Partner of the Year” by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at its 2009 Green Power Leadership Awards, which are cosponsored by the US Department of Energy and the Center for Resource Solutions.

“Deutsche Bank is committed to being a leader in sustainability, and this project is a small part of a comprehensive global program to both reduce our consumption and shift to renewable sources,” said Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas.

Deutsche Bank utilized both state and federal programs designed to encourage investment in renewable energy sources, including New Jersey Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC) and US federal renewable energy investment credits, part of the “green stimulus” package passed this year by the US Congress. The incentives were essential to make the investment in this new technology financially viable.