Community solar developer UGE will be helping the town of Norway, Maine reach its environment and sustainability goals, announcing the development of a 1 MW community solar project, set to be built atop a capped landfill in the town.
To increase community engagement with the developers and educate on the benefits of community solar, the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy, a non-profit grassroots environmental organization in Norway, will educate the community and bring subscribers to the project.
The Norway installation is one project in a 12-project, 38 MW portfolio that UGE is developing in Maine. In total, the company has developed more than 700 projects with a combined capacity over 500 MW.
In addition to saving on energy costs, the Town of Norway will earn long-term lease revenue on the land where the project will be built.
“The new community solar farm will provide financial support for our town and for local businesses for decades to come,” said Dennis Lajoie, town manager of Norway. “We hope to serve as an example for other small towns, encouraging them to turn underutilized land into sources of clean energy and revenue that can be re-invested in their communities.”
The Norway project will all but certainly operate under Maine’s NEB program, which allows customers to benefit from clean energy savings by offsetting their electrical bills with either owned or shared energy projects, like community solar, which, in turn, spurs further development of these assets within the state. The NEB program has become critical in establishing a healthy and growing community solar market in Maine.
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I owned a perfectly aligned property in Pittsburgh Pa. and got an estimate for solar on my flat roof. 20 panels to produce 80% of my monthly needs for around 20K. I backed out after comparing the results to others in my block. States with lots of clouds will need to see efficiency over 30% to make solar viable in my opinion.
I moved to our earthship in Taos ,New Mexico 2 years ago. I have four older panels here and float my batteries to full charge by 1:00PM daily. The remainder of the sunny days my system simply dumps the electricity created ( we are off the grid)
Note if a cloud does go by ,even here, my incoming watts drop from 1000 plus to less than 100 watts incoming! After living and working in both locations I conclude that Solar is excellent out West in the USA..but I would not recommend it on the East Coast as a viable alternative at this stage of 22% solar panel efficiency.