FREEPORT

As installation of home solar panels is underway as part of the Solarize Freeport project, a new solar project is in the early planning stages.

Freeport Climate Action, an organization made up of about a dozen members that started this past winter, is holding a forum on community solar farms at 7 p.m. Monday at the Freeport Community Library.

“This is a group of Freeport people especially concerned about climate change issues and the dramatic effect of the use of fossil fuels,” said Sukie Rice, a Freeport- CAT member helping to organize support for the solar farm. “We look at what are the local issues, and what are the alternatives to fossil fuels. A community solar farm was the number one priority we wanted to work on.”

Up to nine families would be able to invest in a 200-panel ground-based solar array.

“It’s perfect for people who can’t put it on their roof but want to go solar,” said Rice.

FreeportCAT has not yet acquired land in town on which to build the farm. Rice said a quarter of an acre will be needed.

For those who rent, or for those whose roofs are shaded or for other reasons can’t support solar panels, investing in a solar farm is a good alternative for the environmentally conscious, according to Rice.

FreeportCAT wants to see an array of 200 solar panels, which could be purchased by eight or nine families, said Rice.

“Economically, it’s going to save people a lot in the long run,” said Rice. “It takes about 10 to 12 years to pay back the investment you put into the panels. But after you’ve paid for your investment, the energy is free.”

The panels have a life span of about 30 years, said Rice.

A 200-panel solar farm runs between $150,000- $180,000, or between $750- $900 per panel, according to information provided by Rice.

Twenty panels, or 10 percent of the farm, would cost a member between $15,000- $18,000, plus a $165 yearly fee to pay for maintenance.

To lessen the sting, that same member would be eligible for a $5,175 tax credit and realize a $1,020 annual savings on their electric bill.

FreeportCAT has decided to work with Portland-based ReVision Energy on the project, which helped install Maine’s first community solar farm consisting of nine independent shareholders in the town of Paris.

Sue Jones of ReVision Energy will be Monday’s guest speaker.

The solar farm would be an alternative to those interested in investing in solar power, but whose homes cannot support a solar array, like the ones offered through the Solarize Freeport program.

About 40 contracts have been signed through Solarize Freeport, a communitybased effort to increase the access to solar for Freeport property owners through bulk purchasing. That is about 10 percent higher than initially expected, according to Voughn Woodruff, owner of Insource Renewables, the company partnering with Solarize Freeport.

Installation has already begun on four projects, said Woodruff.

The deadline to qualify for bulk pricing closed May 2, however, applications are still being accepted to receive roughly 65-70 percent of the Solarize Freeport discount.

“One of the strongest motivators for folks buying solar is having neighbors who have solar,” Woodruff said.

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