Eastern Bank installs rooftop solar field

LYNN – Workers recently completed installing 330 solar panels on the roof of Eastern Bank’s five-story Lynn office building, at 1 Eastern Place.Barbara Heinemann, an executive vice president at Eastern Bank and its chief information officer, said the solar panels will be activated sometime this week or early next, and “are projected to generate about 10 percent of the power we use for this building.”Heinemann said, “Eastern Bank is committed to sustainability and has a number of green and sustainable initiatives.”Heinemann said Eastern Bank has more LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified branches of any bank in Massachusetts; has an expanded recycling program at all of its locations; and has financed 42 solar farms in Massachusetts and New Jersey.”This project is a natural extension of those efforts,” Heinemann said.The solar panels were installed by SolarFlaire Energy Inc., and Heinemann said the process took a bit longer than anticipated, six months total, because of related special design work.Although she did not divulge the cost of the project, Heinemann said, “It is a significant investment but in line with our overall strategy.”She said she is working to coordinate the activation of the solar panels with National Grid. “We hope that will be within a week,” she said.? Sean Leonard