US 1st District Representative Chellie Pingree (center, in red) with USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Lisa Mensah, several generations of farmers from McDougal Orchards, Fred from ReVision Energy, reps from Maine Standard Biofuels, and other REAP grant awardees at a ceremony announcing the latest round of grants on Thursday, June 30.
ReVision Energy is grateful to have worked with a number of great local Maine and New Hampshire businesses over the year in exploring their solar energy options and getting creative about how to make the project possible. A little-known but incredibly helpful program is the USDA REAP Grant, created to help rural businesses gain access to the benefits of clean energy, that will fund up to 25% of a project's cost.
In 2016, a full 7 (!) awardees will be getting solar from ReVision Energy. The fact that so many of the grants awarded this current session were awarded for solar, speaks to solar's cost-effectiveness and compatibility for rural Maine and rural New Hampshire.
The full list of awardees is available at: http://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-release/usda-rural-development-under-secretary-lisa-mensah-announces-13-rural-energy-0
ReVision Energy is very happy to talk to interested businesses - contact us to learn whether your solar project might qualify for a REAP grant and how to get started.
As an update to this post, a few of the projects mentioned in this article are now alive and generated kilowatt-hours. (Just a couple of the 7 mentioned, we'll add more as they get built!)
The 20kw of grid-tied solar PV panels at McDougal Orchards in Sanford, Maine, will power near to 100% of the electricity needs of this pick your own orchard.
The 27kw solar electric array for Little River Veterinary Hospital in Northport, Maine will power most of the heating/cooling and electric needs (computers, lights, lab equipment) for this veterinary hospital.
