The cost of solar power panels and their installation has come down considerably in the last five years, to the point that it is starting to get the attention of towns across New Hampshire. In addition to the lower cost of the hardware and the installation, a number of grants and tax credits are still available to make the financing even more attractive. Municipalities are paying attention to solar power because it is a good long term investment; it reduces the community reliance on fossil fuels and is capable of reducing the cost of energy on strained municipal budgets.
At the sixth annual Local Energy Solutions conference last month, Concord Energy and Environment Committee members learned that there were at least nine towns around the state that have completed or are pursuing photo voltaic installations including Manchester, Peterborough, Jaffrey, Durham, Plymouth, the North Conway wastewater district, Keene and Exeter.
Taking advantage of the large power demands of municipal departments, and being creative about the use of available real estate is getting a lot of attention. A few of the communities are seeking proposals from solar developers to explore solar power generation on all available municipal property.
∎ Durham recently installed solar panels in its town ice arena. It has also installed solar panels at the police and library buildings and is actively working with a solar developer to explore other possibilities on town lands that are well-suited for solar installations.
∎ Several cities have put them on other municipal buildings, town hall, police, schools, etc.
∎ Manchester is contracting with Public Service Co. of N.H. to install solar panels on a closed 90-acre landfill and earn more than $50,000 to the city budget.
∎ Plymouth is installing solar panels on the site of a decommissioned wastewater treatment plant and expecting to get a grant of $315,000 to help lower the cost.
∎ The North Conway wastewater precinct has installed panels next to its treatment plant to lower its operating costs.
∎ Jaffrey received a $1 million grant from the Public Utilities Commission to install panels at its wastewater plant.
∎ Keene has installed photo voltaic panels on top of city hall.
∎ Exeter has installed a solar array on top of its high school, reportedly the largest in New Hampshire.
∎ Peterborough has just begun working with a solar developer to consider several possibilities.
Several others are exploring vacant land from former closed landfills and space next to wastewater treatment plants.
Based on the work by these other communities, the Concord City Council forwarded a request May 19 from the Energy and Environment Committee to the City Council Fiscal Policy Advisory Committee to examine the feasibility of a solar installation at the Hall Street wastewater treatment facility. This site was selected because it has considerable open land with good solar exposure and the treatment plant is one of the largest electricity users in the city government. The treatment plant currently uses more than 3.1megawatt hours of power per year that cost the taxpayers in excess of $200,000 annually. By comparison, the average New Hampshire home uses about 615 kilowatt hours of electricity, which means that the Hall Street treatment plant uses the equivalent electric consumption of more than 5,000 homes each year. If this review process goes well, the city’s water treatment plant and the Penacook wasterwater plant are other big electricity users with significant space for large solar panel fields. With some creative thinking, Concord could have several energy saving solar arrays in the next several years.
The Concord Energy and Environment Committee contributes a monthly column to the Insider. The members of CEEC aim to inform and engage the citizens of Concord about energy, environmental, and sustainability issues and policies. CEEC works with city administration and the Concord City Council to identify and implement sustainability programs and strategies. If you have questions or you would like to become involved in the committee, please contact us at 225-8500.
