Mascoma Meadow | Lebanon, NH
By the numbers:
System size: 132 kW (384 solar panels)
System output: 176,507 kWh/year
CO₂ reduction: 173,153 pounds/year
Year Completed: 2018
Mascoma Meadows, a 50-unit resident-owned manufactured-home cooperative in Lebanon, N.H., partnered with ReVision Energy's Brentwood-based team to install a 132.48-kilowatt (DC) solar array, which saves each of the co-op's participating low- and moderate-income households an estimated $270 annually.
The ground-mounted array consists of 384 solar panels and was turned on at the end of 2018. The project is expected to generate 176,507 kilowatt hours of electricity annually over its lifetime.
“Manufactured-home communities like ours are perfect places for sustainable-energy projects, and it will make the homes here even more affordable,” said Mascoma President Calvin Goude.
The total project's cost was partly covered by a grant from the Renewable Energy Fund, managed by the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC). In addition to the PUC grant, the project was funded through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The PPA enabled the Mascoma Meadows co-op to access the long-term economic and environmental benefits of solar electricity, while providing an opportunity our investors who share our values to partake in a project with strong longterm impact in their community and our environment. After five years, Mascoma Meadows can purchase the array, at a discount.
"The model developed for Mascoma Meadows, leveraging the cooperative structure and tax incentives, helps break some of the barriers to lower-income residents owning solar," said Christa Shute, Vermont Law School's Energy Fellow for Climate Justice. "The exciting part of this project is creating a model not just for New Hampshire resident-owned communities, but for ROCs across the country. The VLS Energy Clinic looks forward to seeing Mascoma Meadows into production and finding the next ROC to benefit from community-owned solar." (Source: Granite Geek)
