Two agrivoltaic solar facilities made using a strategic selection of components are generating power to Maine’s grid. Both facilities will use dual-use agriculture services such as solar grazing.
The two facilities consist of Brooks Solar, a 4 MW solar array in Brooks, Maine, and Alpine Street Solar, a 2.3 MW solar array in Oakland, Maine. The projects are owned and operated by Encore Renewable Energy, which transitioned from the project developer to a fully integrated independent power producer.
Local flocks of sheep deployed by Agrivoltaic Solutions will graze the land under and around the projects’ arrays starting this spring. Encore said this will bolster the Maine’s agricultural industry and improve the long-term soil quality while providing an efficient, low-carbon vegetation management strategy for the sites.
Encore told pv magazine USA that it selected the equipment based on each project’s technological specification, and the components’ price and availability that would allow them to reach commercial operation before the end of 2024.
The Brooks Solar facility includes
- (32) 125 kw inverters, made by CPS America,
- Glide Agile racking with screw post foundations, made by Florida-based Terrasmart, and
- (9,216) 575 W modules, made by Hyperion Solar.
Image: Encore Renewable Energy
The Alpine Solar facility, which sits on 19.5 acres of land, includes
- (19) 125 kw inverters, made by CPS America,
- Titan Duo racking w/ screw post foundations, made by Ohio-based APA Solar Racking, and
- (5,928) 550 W modules, made by VSUN.
Image: Encore Renewable Energy
After noting its commitment to work with domestic partners, Encore said it selected APA and Terrasmart because the companies “are uniquely positioned with their screw solutions to work with Maine topography by helping to mitigate ground disturbance and other issues that would arise with standard pile solutions in these areas.”
“We also selected suppliers that meet ethical workforce standards underscoring our commitment to keep forced labor out of our supply chain,” the company said.
Located in a census tract that meets the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool’s threshold for disadvantage in the Energy Burden category, the Brooks Solar facility was allocated a 10% low-income community bonus credit in 2024.
(Read: “Calculating potential impact of EPA’s $7 billion Solar for All program”)
Alpine Street Solar is part of Maine’s new remote net-metering program, which allows a solar’s geographic location to be separate from where the economic benefits are delivered within Central Maine Power’s service array. The facility’s solar arrays will energize the local grid to make renewable energy available to all local customers, while Maine’s net-energy-billing program will allow the net-metering credits to be shared with qualified ratepayers anywhere in Central Maine Power’s territory.
While Alpine Street Solar was not met with opposition by the community, Brooks Solar “has an unhappy neighbor who can see the project from his porch,” Encore said, “even with a thoughtful screening approach, his view looking down on the project was challenging to fully address,” the company said, adding “We’re in the process of finalizing charitable contributions to both Oakland and Brooks communities.”
Alpine Street Solar’s generated power will go to towns, schools and other large electric customers under “a robust and comprehensive” offtake arrangement facilitated by Competitive Energy Services, Encore said, “Brooks Solar is providing savings for the electrical bills of several municipal customers as well.”
Maine’s remote net energy billing program allows these solar projects to distribute these economic benefits to local communities, Encore said.
The projects were two of more than 60 solar projects that went online in Maine last year, which totaled 241 MW of new solar power, according to Eric Sutton, the vice president of Electric Operations for Central Maine Power.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Maine had 1.42 GW of solar installed as of Q3 of 2024 and is projected to grow 1.581 MW over the next five years.
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