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Portsmouth Historic District to Have Solar Light

Published Friday Jul 15, 2011

Author JIM CAVAN

For as committed to sustainability as Portsmouth has been, the town is equally dedicated to protecting its architectural heritage particularly in downtown.

Which is what makes last night's decision by the Portsmouth Historic District Commission (PHDC) to allow a solar hot water array on top of Jumin' Jay's Fish Caf so significant.

In a near-unanimous decision, the commission authorized the installation of nine 4-by-8 foot flat solar panel collectors and a 500-gallon water storage tank to the roof of the Congress Street restaurant.

The system will be installed by Jack Bingham of SEA Solar Store in Dover, with plans to begin construction within the next few weeks. Bingham, who two years ago installed a high-efficiency water-system system at the popular seafood restaurant, saw the decision as a coup for both his business, as well as the green future of downtown Portsmouth.

Being the first commercial solar hot water system, we think other businesses will be able to see the viability and hopefully follow suit, Bingham said.

Jay McSharry, owner of Jumpin Jay's, was equally enthused about the decision. We're hoping this can serve as a template that other businesses can replicate, he said.

Coupled with the existing hot water system, Bingham expects the new solar array to generate significant savings for the restaurant.

In an effort to convince the nine-person commission of the project's aesthetic viability, Bingham placed a model array of racks atop the near 8,000-square-foot roof. He then photographed the mock racks from a variety of angles, adding virtual panels in Photoshop to show what the system would look like once completed.

The only angle from which the panels could be clearly seen was from the third floor of the building on the opposite side of Congress Street, a long abandoned loft above the Sake restaurant, which once housed a YMCA.

Because of the relatively small size of the system, pedestrians on street level are only capable of spotting a small portion of the array from a few different angles.

Although Bingham was confident the PHDC would approve the project, he also recognized the importance of preserving Portsmouth's unique architectural charm. This isn't a massive ventilation system or something that can be clearly seen, so we were pretty sure they wouldn't have a problem with it, said Bingham. The great thing about these systems is that they can be hidden in such a way that the surrounding architecture isn't compromised in any way.

The commission expressed concerns about the color of the piping and the possibility of glare affecting the surrounding buildings. Bingham said he'd adhere to the panel's preference that the piping be black and therefore less noticeable. Also, because the panels are made of a stippled glass, Bingham said glare wouldn't be an issue.

A number of the board members expressed enthusiasm for the project, both for its adherence to their guidelines as well as for its keeping within the town's commitments as an official Eco-Municipality, a sentiment Bingham himself echoes. This is where the city is going, and it's great the board recognizes that, he said. It goes to show that we can tout what's great about Portsmouth's history while looking to the future.

To learn more about Seacoast Energy Alternatives, visit www.seasolarstore.com

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