National Grid opens largest solar plant in Massachusetts

May 28, 2010

The Whitinsville solar array is the largest in Massachusetts and the first completed under a 2008 law allowing utilities to own 50MW of solar capacity in the state

Utility National Grid has completed the largest solar power facility in the State of Massachusetts, a one-megawatt plant in Whitinsville.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held yesterday at the utility’s New England Distribution Center warehouse, where the roof-top solar system was installed.

The project was the first utility-owned solar plant completed under the Massachusetts Green Communities Act, a 2008 law that allowed utilities to own up to 50MW of solar generation.

It is the first of five solar plants being developed by National Grid in Massachusetts, which when complete will generate 5MW of clean energy.

Spreading across two acres of roofspace, the Whitinsville solar array comprises 4,683 solar panels, each rated at 210 watts and made by Evergreen Solar of Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Inverters were manufactured by SMA America of Rockland, California.

Predicted to generate more than 1.1 million kilowatt-hours each year – enough power to supply nearly 200 homes annually – the system is expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional electricity production equivalent to taking 400 cars off the roads.

Attending the opening ceremony, Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles said, “This solar array consists of Massachusetts-made solar panels, installed by Massachusetts firms and workers, generating clean, renewable energy for Massachusetts consumers for years to come. This is what our clean energy future looks like.”

Jobs

More than 50 jobs were supported by the project, with North Andover firm Nexamp serving as as general contractor, Lynnwell Associates Inc. of Boston providing electrical systems installations as Nexamp’s subcontractor, and Holden-based Lidco Electrical Contractors providing electrical modifications for the building ready for the solar array.

Cambridge company Zapotec Energy provided design and installation oversight for the system.

Ed White, vice president of Energy Products for National Grid, said: “Projects such as this take skilled and talented hands that have working knowledge of cutting-edge technologies. Without our many and varied local solar experts, this accomplishment would have been much more challenging.”

National Grid, which serves 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, is also developing solar plants in Dorchester, Everett, Haverhill, and Revere, Massachusetts.

The company’s local contractors for various aspects of the upcoming projects also include Innovative Engineering Solutions, Walpole; Solar Design Associates, Harvard; American Capital Energy, North Chelmsford; and Fischbach & Moore Electrical Group, LLC, Boston.