A solar array in Woolwich, approved at April’s Town Meeting, will be finished and operational by the end of the year.

“(ReVision Energy) told us we’d be on by the end of 2017,” said Woolwich Selectman Allison Hepler.

Under a power purchase agreement signed by the town and ReVision, the nearly $80,000 solar array will be installed at no cost to the town. The array will be owned and operated for the first six years by ReVision, while the town will pay their electric bill to the company. In year seven, prices will increase as an incentive for the town to purchase the array at a discount. The price is expected to be approximately $47,000 at that time.

“The solar electricity is being purchased at the point in which it enters Woolwich’s electrical system,” said Nick Sampson of ReVision Energy. “So they’re basically purchasing the electricity before it goes out to the grid and then they hold the net metering agreement with CMP.”

The small array sits in front of the former landfill in Bath, which is now capped and covered with grass. While the town previously looked at building a much larger solar array on top of it, the cost ultimately became prohibitive. Due to the nature of the site, a more expensive foundation would be needed, which could only make financial sense with more people buying into the project.

“But right now, only nine people can invest in a community solar (project),” said Hepler.

A bill passed by the Maine Legislature would have expanded that limit to 100 accounts, which would have made the project possible if enough people invested. Ultimately, however, the governor vetoed the bill.

With the more limited scope of offsetting electricity consumption at municipal buildings, the town built the smaller array in front of the former landfill off Route 127.

Work on the array has already begun, and is near completion.

“ReVision has completed the installation of the foundation for the ground mount as well as the racking system,” said Sampson. “The next steps are basically to install the panels, which we expect to take two days or so, and then complete the electrical work.”

Up and running

He added that there were probably just 3-4 days of work left on the project before it was up and running.

“Since these systems are so simple, the operating and maintenance requirements are really low,” said Sampson. “We don’t expect really any (operations or maintenance) costs other than preventative maintenance.”

He said that Woolwich’s project is ahead of the curve when it comes to municipalities engaging with solar.

“If you look at the state as a whole, Woolwich is certainly leading the way on an inevitable clean energy transition,” said Sampson, “but they aren’t the first ones to do a power purchase agreement.”

“Personally, anything we can do to reduce our carbon footprint is a plus for the environment, regardless of where you live,” said Hepler. “All the electricity now is coming from renewable power. We’re contributing to renewable energy.”

nstrout@timesrecord.com