NSCC adds solar panels at Danvers campus

A construction crew worked on the Frederick E. Berry building at North Shore Community College's Danvers campus where more than 350 new solar panels will be installed.

Installation of new solar panels at a North Shore Community College building will likely be complete in about a year, a statement from the school said.

The school and the state Division of Asset Capital Management are currently installing more than 350 of the panels on the Frederick E. Berry building on the Danvers campus, which is host to several offices, a cafeteria, and the school's library, among other resources.

According to projections from school officials, the panels should save about $10,000 in energy costs and reduce carbon emissions by 55 tons each year, a NSCC statement said.

The project is federally funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and a federal loan program for renewable energy projects. In all, the project's cost is $333,469, a statement from the school said.

"We're impacting the 15,000 people who take classes here annually to think green so they can reduce their carbon footprint in their lives and communities," NSCC president Wayne M. Burton said in a written statement.

The panel installations are part of DCAM's Solar East project. Other schools involved in the project include Massasoit Community College, Salem State University, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Chickatawbut Hill.