Allan Appel Photo
58 Exchange.
Apologize nicely one month, then next month you might receive the blessing you sought.
That’s how it worked out for one solar panel installer.
The blessing — immediate approval of a certificate of appropriateness for a rooftop solar installation on an 1845 house in historic Fair Haven — came in just a few minutes of testimony at the tail end of a nearly four-hour meeting of the Historic District Commission (HDC) at City Hall last week.
Mike Farrell, the Connecticut sales and operations manager for Cheshire-based Trinity Solar, came to the commissioners last month with a polite and full mea culpa: His company had already begun putting in equipment on the home of Elizabeth Evers, at 58 Exchange St., in the heart of the historic district without having gotten the permission of the commissioners.
That’s needed because the roof-mounted racks and panels, along with the conduits and equipment on the side of the house, will be viewable from the public way.
Farrell of Trinity Solar.
Farrell apologized for the clerical snafu that had resulted in the work launch without going through the HDC process. He reported that once he found out about the need for historic approval, he halted the crew’s work.
Now here he was a month later with photos of his proposed solution in hand, as well as Evers, to make his case.
Commissioner Chair Trina Learned said she is all in favor of green infrastructure — as long as it can be tucked away as much as possible.
And Farrell accommodated. “The equipment [conduits, and a control box] will be moved to the inside. They’ll be in the basement,” he said. Farrell said the only equipment that by law must remain on the side of the house is a cut-off switch.
He emphasized that the installation of the three solar panels will be small. They will be black, flush to the roof.
After she reviewed the photos, before and afters of 58 Exchange, as well as comparable installations, HDC Chair Trina Learned concluded, “It’s tough to see it from the public way.”
That was a compliment.
As there were no other outstanding issues, she called for a vote authorizing a certificate of appropriateness for 58 Exchange’s rooftop solar photo-voltaic system. The vote for approval was unanimous.
