The city has approved a contract for up to $350,000 with Arctic Solar LLC for the installation of a solar thermal system. The system is the first in the area and will allow Chesterfield to reduce gas consumption and use renewable energy.

Mayor John Nations recently told the City Council that this system has the potential to be "the best investment the city will have, and the city will be able to recover its initial investment in a few years."

Nations praised resident Harvey Rosenberg, volunteer special assistant to the mayor on energy issues and energy alternatives, with helping research this and other renewable energy resources for the city.

Mike Geisel, the city's director of planning and public works, said the city now heats the City Hall building and its water through use of forced air pushed across heated water tubes running through the building.

But natural gas must be used to power the boiler.

"With the new system, there will be solar collector arrays, or clear glass tubes, installed on the roof. They will heat a fluid that in turn heats the water, and that heated water will negate a lot of our natural gas consumption," Geisel said.

It's not new technology, having been used extensively for years in Europe, but it's new here, he said.

"The technology is now efficient enough that it's cost effective," Geisel said.

At current gas prices, the city expects to save between $33,000 and $50,000 per year with the new equipment, he said.

Chesterfield now spends between $50,000 and $60,000 a year on natural gas use at City Hall, at current prices.

"The benefit from the system isn't just saving us money, but also taking us completely off dependency on a finite resource," Geisel said.