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LARGE PROJECTS DRIVE MONOLITH SOLAR'S GROWTH

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DONNA ABBOTT VLAHOS

Monolith Solar installed panels at 455 Patroon Creek Blvd., a major commercial space in… more

Steve Erby, vice president of Monolith SolarAssociates, has two ambitious goals for the solar company to reach within the next year: Move into the Vista Technology Park by January and add up to 50 employees.

"January is a very aggressive move-in date, but I'm a very big believer in setting goals," Erby says.

Since the company started in 2009, operating out of Erby's garage, the size of its solar projects has grown. Monolith's new location in the Vista Technology Campus will feature a 2 million-watt system. During Monolith's early years, the largest project the company completed was a 25,000-watt system.The company will hire between 40 and 50 people, adding to the 60 current employees. That growth is driven by a number of large projects, including a solar farm for Rensselaer County. Monolith is also working on solar farms for Schenectady County and the Sage Colleges, among others.

"People are realizing solar is here to stay and it"s in for the long haul," Erby says.

MONOLITH'S OFFICE SPACE IN RENSSELAER IS OVERCROWDED, ERBY SAYS. THE 16,000-SQUARE-FOOT OFFICE SPACE AT VISTA WILL BE FOUR TIMES LARGER THAN THE RENSSELAER LOCATION.

City of Troy Goes Solar

The city of Troy is  planning to install a 3 megawatt solar farm on several city-owned properties as part of a deal that could save the city $300,000 annually in electric costs.

Last month the city council authorized the mayor to sign a memorandum of understanding with Monolith Solar of Rensselaer to build the solar farm, which would be paid for up front by Monolith.

The city would enter into a 20-year power purchase agreement with Monolith to buy the solar power, which would net the city roughly $300,000 in annual credits from National Grid.