Ken Emma doesn’t worry about the energy bill every time a hairdryer goes on at Kennections Hair Concepts, but with a 31 kilowatt solar energy system in their backyard, who would?
The newly installed solar panels behind Kennections are designed to produce 100 percent of the energy power in the salon, and are the result of an idea Emma, the owner of the salon, has been considering for the past 18 months.
“There’s a green channel on cable TV, so I would pop that on at night, and it started to make sense,” Emma said. “There’s things you can do to lower your carbon footprint, to make things a little environmentally friendlier, so that’s kind of how it started.”
Cassandra Kling of Dawn Solar Systems, Inc., the company that installed the panels, said the system will not necessarily produce 100 percent of the energy needed each month, but over the course of a year it should even out.
“Some months will have a deficit; some will have overproduction,” Kling said. “In December, it’s not quite as sunny as it is in July.”
Kennections is also the first 100 percent solar powered salon in the area; some have a solar thermal system for making hot water, but that doesn’t cover all energy, Kling said.
During a month when not enough solar power is generated, energy would be supplemented by PSE&G, and extra energy can be sold back to PSE&G.
The solar panels had already been up and running for four weeks at the time of the Dec. 2 ribbon cutting. Kling said the panels are under warranty for 25 years, but are designed to last much longer than that.
The solar project is another step in the green direction for Lawrence Township, which was one of 65 towns of 566 municipalities to be named Sustainable Certified by Sustainable Jersey.
Mayor Michael Powers said all Lawrence schools have solar panels on the roofs, as well as Terhune Orchards, and now Lawrence can continue with another solar project.
“Really we want to see more and more of those projects,” Powers said. “Our dependence on foreign oil—we need to get away from that and look into alternative energy sources, and solar is obviously one of those.”
The changeover from standard electricity to solar power is just one of many other efforts Emma has made to take the salon in a greener direction. Using paper instead of plastic and offering the option of organic hair color are two other methods. Even the remaining hair in the salon is recycled.
“We’ve been recycling hair for years,” Emma said. “Clients would take bags of hair home and put it in their vegetable and flower gardens, and it keeps the rabbits and deer away.”
Emma said Kennections is now registered to send hair to a Florida-based company, A Matter of Trust, where it will be stuffed in nylon stockings and used to soak up oil from oil spills.
Despite Emma’s environmentally friendly goals, sacrifices had to be made for them to happen. Three large trees near the panels were removed during the installation. Emma said he plans to replace the trees with new ones, though their location is yet to be determined.
Kennections Hair Concepts is located at 2911 U.S. 1 in Lawrenceville. On the Web: kennections.com. Phone: (609) 882-6868.
