image description — The former landfill will bloom with solar panels this fall.

Adams Sees Power Promise in Photovoltaics

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
01:58AM / Friday, August 19, 2011Print Story | Email Story

ADAMS, Mass. — The Selectmen on Wednesday night formalized a 15-year contract that puts the town in the forefront of green energy in North Berkshire.

While there are few more permitting hurdles to get through, a 1.1-megawatt solar array at the former landfill could be producing energy as soon as December. The privately funded project is expected to save Adams some $3.3 million over the next two decades.

"I think it's important to Adams because it's symbolic of a town that often gets the reputation of being stuck in the past, taking a step forward," said Town Administrator Jonathan Butler on Thursday, noting that green and alternative energies are a statewide effort. "It's exciting for Adams to be part of that."

The energy produced from the array will be equivalent to ...

Powering 200 homes

Taking 190 cars off the road

2,222 barrels of oil

100,000 gallons of gasoline

Tecta Solar, a division of Tecta America Corp., will own the array and take care of permitting, construction and maintenance. The town signed a power purchase agreement to buy energy at a heavily discounted rate — 68 percent — over the next 15 years with an option to continue for another five. (The Green Communities Act of 2008 paved the way for municipalities to enter such third-party contracts.)

Butler, Community Development Director Donna Cesan and other town officials have spent more than a year researching its applicability and developing a request for proposals. Butler, a former staffer for state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, was aware of the potential for solar because of the senator's involvement in the state's green inititatives. There was also support in the initial stages from then Selectmen Chairman Donald Sommer, who was interested in introducing solar to Adams. "It was kind of a pet project of his that came to our attention," said Butler.

Initial savings are estimated at $135,000 for the first full year. The installation and operation won't cost the town a penny.

"The financial benefit will make writing our budget a lot easier the next few years," said Butler. "And take away a lot of the tough decisions we'd otherwise have to make."

The array will be constructed on the capped landfill on East Road. Tecta will use a ballast system to set the panels to prevent puncturing the cap. The installation will be smaller than Western Massachusetts Electric Co.'s 1.8MW array on Silver Lake in Pittsfield that has 6,500 photovoltaic panels.

A meter will installed at the landfill to track energy production; National Grid will credit the appropriate town accounts to cover the power used in town buildings. As Adams becomes more energy efficient, Butler envisions having excess energy that could be used toward the Registry of Deeds, the visitors center or the school system.

Adams isn't the first to capture solar in the county. In addition to WMECo's array, the Berkshire "Bundle" and Country Curtains have installed solar and a number of schools and businesses have or are planning to install them. Pittsfield put in a 1.5MW array to power its wastewater treatment plant. The town will also be surpassed sometime next year as North Adams moves foward with a 2MW-plus system on its landfill.

Until then, the former mill town is on the leading edge for powering small communities and willing to share what it's learned.

"Hopefully, setting a precedent for other communities to do the same thing," said Butler.

Tags: solar array,

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Your Comments

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Go Adams!
from: Just me	on: 08-19-2011 09:18AM I Agree (19) - I Disagree (0)

Very good indeed. I don't suppose you will see the tax rate drop from the savings :(
from: Adams resident	on: 08-20-2011 01:05PM I Agree (5) - I Disagree (0)

McCann Tech has a small array on the roof of the school. I think it has been there since 2006 Here is the link to the stats http://www.soltrex.com/systems.cfm?systemid=S00000000271
from: Sun Too	on: 08-20-2011 02:02PM I Agree (2) - I Disagree (0)

I ask again, where are the solar panels manufactured? Is the town of Adams supporting manufacturers that shipped their jobs overseas? Or is protecting American jobs not important as long as the town can save money? It should be mandatory that public entities disclose where their solar panels were manufactured. Also what happens to the panels after the contract is up? Who is responsible for disposing of the toxic remnants of the panels? Is there any agreement to replace panels mid-contract should more advanced/efficient panels become available?
from: Huh	on: 08-22-2011 11:13AM I Agree (11) - I Disagree (3)
Editor: Tecta Solar is a private entity purchasing and installing the panels; it is responsible at the end of the contract for removing them and remediating the land, should the town not desire to take them. There is no midterm change, to my knowledge, but solar panels have so far shown very little loss of efficiency over the years.
I Agree (4) - I Disagree (0)

It wasn't loss of efficiency I was thinking of. One has to assume in the next 20 years that there will be some significant advances in the ability of silicon (or other material) to convert sun light into electricity. I was wondering if the system would always have access to the latest and greatest or once the panels are installed, the town is stuck with them.
from: Huh	on: 08-22-2011 01:10PM I Agree (8) - I Disagree (5)

North Berkshire School Study Encouraging Stakeholders to Take Survey

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
07:22AM / Saturday, October 03, 2026

CHESHIRE, Mass. — The consultants behind the education study for North Berkshire are hoping for solid responses to its recently released survey.

The survey, released last week, can be found here.

"Our goal is somewhere between 5 and 10 percent overall survey responses, which is somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 responses," project manager Jake Eberwein told the steering committee for the North Berkshire Educational Sustainability Study at Wednesday's meeting at Hoosac Valley High School.

This is the next phase of the study of secondary education in North County being undertaken through state funding and conducted by Berkshire Educational Consulting Group, Berk12.

"Our first phase was project awareness, and that was really our you know attempt to meet the school committees, select boards, and we wrapped that up this past Monday in Williamstown," Berk12 researcher Brendan Sheran said. "And certainly, we'll be doing more of that going back out probably in the midyear or springtime. But in terms of info gathering, really, the data collection — that's where we are now."

The community survey was launched through sharing on social media, the group's stakeholder list, the press, and the district partners, which are distributing it to educators, parents and students. The window is expected to close on Friday, Oct. 9, but Sheran said they can be flexible with the date.

The survey takes about seven to 10 minutes and is open to those in the Hoosac Valley Regional and Mount Greylock Regional school districts and in North Adams, Clarksburg, Florida and Savoy.

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