Ridgewood Village Hall Solar Panels Haven’t Worked for YEARS—And They’re About to Be Ripped Out.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood, NJ – The Ridgewood Village Council is ditching the solar panels on the roof of Village Hall. The decision, revealed by Village Manager Keith Kazmark on Wednesday night (July 2, 2025), has sparked concern and raised questions among taxpayers and local observers.
The primary reason for the removal? Citing pervasive “cable and conduit failures,” the Council determined that removing the panels is the logical step as part of an upcoming necessary roof replacement project.
A Decade of Darkness? Panels Haven’t Worked for “Years”
Perhaps the most startling revelation for Ridgewood taxpayers was Mr. Kazmark’s announcement that the solar panels have not supplied electricity to the building for “years.”
The panels were initially installed in 2014 as a cornerstone of the Village’s “Sustainable Energy Project,” a major initiative at the time. Similar installations were completed at the main firehouse and the Water Pollution Control Plant in Glen Rock. The status and operational efficiency of the panels at these other two locations are currently unknown.
The surprise disclosure left many wondering why the Council opted to scrap the entire system instead of simply repairing the cable and conduit failures to restore the building’s green energy source. Furthermore, the question remains: are the Village’s other solar panel installations still working and the answer is ,NO.
Construction Alert: Village Hall Access Changes
The Village Hall roof replacement ie… getting rid of the failed solar panels is scheduled to begin on Monday, October 6 and is expected to continue through Friday, October 10. During this construction period, public access will be temporarily altered:
- The Courtyard and Community Center entrance will be closed.
- Visitors should use either the Main Rear Entrance or the Maple Avenue entrance while construction is underway.
The community awaits the Council’s final vote and hopes for greater transparency regarding the fate of Ridgewood’s investment in sustainable energy.
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How much is the removal of this feel good project costing us?
Not as much as the pavilion for who????
This audience usually hates solar. Except now when liking it helps score points against the Village administration. Hmmm.
green energy scam
not anti solar , just anti wasting money on stupid ideas
#pavillion and new play ground at Habernickel. For who?
instead of disusing another village folly , you go right into partisan a$$kissing
when you get a job you will figure it out,
village engineer is “stuck on stupid”
This is no surprise, and not to mention it the solar panels are the emergency service building should’ve never been installed. When they were installing them, I was standing there and had a conversation with the contractor. And they told a few of us that this should not be installed on this roof. Reason the roof is shot, parts of it are rotted out, not stable. And I’m sure someone’s gonna say that’s false. Thumbs down , the village just don’t learn they make mistakes one after the other. And they will never ever admit their guilt.
The green energy scam strikes again.
Someone else can chime in BUT I believe that solar panels always have to be removed when a roof is replaced. If that is the case then the village is just choosing not to replace the solar panels when they replace the roof……. doesn’t sound like a scandal to me. They could have removed them years ago when they weren’t working BUT why not wait and do it in one fell swoop.
they never worked , that’s the scam
It’s called Showtime, the electrical and plumbing and pretty much all the village old buildings of falling apart. They should have an outside consultant come and look at all the buildings they own, the taxpayers will be shocked to see what kind of money it will cost to repair or replace. They’ve been putting Band-Aids on top of Band-Aids for a very long time.
The village buildings are old and in need of repair, there wasn’t even a locker room for village workers and the ceiling was caving in, but heck, as long as there are playing fields that seems to be the priority, not lockers or other amenities, just playing fields and sports. Wow. Don’t look behind the veil because you won’t like what they don’t want you to see.
Well, that’s like they removed all the water fountains and brought in a water company to supply water for the offices, HUMMM, is there something in the pipes that were a concern. And meanwhile, the village owns their own water company and they’re not supplying water to their own employees isn’t that interesting, an outside company you can’t make that up up. some of the village lunch rooms and bathrooms are disgusting, and some village lunch rooms. They removed the kitchen and never replaced it. At the time it was working some of things that go on are just amazes us as employees. Who’s running the village behind the the curtain. Because it doesn’t matter, we get new mayors, council members, managers, department, heads, and yet the same thing still go on. So that tells you that there is someone else with deep deep power, how do you explain it please tell us is there something I’m not understanding or not saying. Actually there is some body. We’re not seeing the people behind the curtain.
So who’s replacing the engineering director when he retires at the end of the year.
?