Home Based Business Turns Sun Into Ice

A Home Based Business is harnessing solar power into Ice. 

Fred Schuld, owner of The Ice Factory in Landing, NJ has installed 85 solar panels on the roof of his home and business, which will run the ice makers that provided his livelihood for the past 19 years. His company provides cubed ice for retail sales, dry ice, cold packing and shipping and fog machine rentals from his combination home and business on Landing Road.

Schuld said his average electric bill is $13,000. The new system will drop his annual electric cost by $8,000 to $9,000, including an annual $4,320 Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, generated by the sale of excess electricity to the power system. He also is qualified for a 30 percent federal tax rebate related to his business, and he received a $72,000 rebate from the state Clean Energy Program to cover a significant portion of the $122,000 installation costs.

His final cost for the solar system was $49,330. Schuld said. He will be able to break even on the installation in five years.

Photo courtesy DailyRecord.com