The New Ipswich Select Board heard a preliminary proposal for installing solar panels on town properties during a recent Select Board meeting.
During a Select Board meeting held at Mascenic Regional High School Tuesday, the board listened to a presentation by Dan Weeks of Revision Energy outlining potential solar array opportunities using town and school district properties.
Revision Energy has done multiple municipal solar projects, including arrays at the Concord Waste Water Treatment Plant, Dover High School, the Hanover Water Department, and the Lebanon Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Weeks identified three potential sites for a solar project, including the capped landfill, the Department of Public Works and town offices, and the Mascenic Regional High School.
“The land’s been sitting, and it unfortunately can’t be used for much else,” Weeks said.
The town’s capped landfill could support a 2.1 megawatt solar farm, or about 6,000 panels. The area could capture up to 2,600 megawatt hours per year, which Weeks said is more power than most municipal departments use.
“Certainly it’s promising in that respect,” Weeks said. However, he said there are drawbacks to building on a landfill, because of the permitting process and complications of building on such a site, which Weeks said could drive up the cost significantly.
Weeks outlined other potential options for the town to explore.
Directly adjacent to the landfill, there is additional land which could be used for an additional 1.65 megawatt system, but it does not have access to three-phase power.
There are also potential opportunities for smaller, roof-mounted systems. The Department of Public Works and the town offices, which are located in the same complex, could have roof-mounted systems that generate between 100 and 120 kilowatts.
“They’re not huge,” Weeks said. “A small fraction of what you could generate at the landfill. But there are a couple of key differences. One is, the build cost is way lower than the landfill.”
Weeks projected the Mascenic Regional High School roof could support a system that would generate between 500 and 700 kilowatts.
Revision Energy’s model does not require the town to purchase or own the solar array. They use a power purchase agreement structure, where Revision Energy owns the panels, and licenses the town land or building to collect solar energy, and the property owner purchases power from Revision Energy, at a lower rate than market rates.
The town would have the option to purchase the solar array after six years at a discount.
Weeks said that for taxpayers, there could be significant energy savings, but they would be over the course of the lifetime of the array.
The Select Board did not discuss the proposal in depth or take any votes following the presentation, but took the information under advisement.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.