The Select Board held a special meeting on Thursday, January 21^st to hear a progress report on the solar project moving its way through the regulatory process. The Board hosted this session to provide the public with an in-depth look at the ‘who, what, where, when, and how’ of this renewable energy source.  Select Board Chair, John Cronin called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm with about 10 people connected via a Zoom session.

The Town hired Beacon Integrated Solutions as its agent to secure bidders on a proposed Solar energy site on the capped landfill along Marshall Street.  Sol Systems was the successful bidder.  The Town will enter a 25-year partnership with Sol Systems that provides electrical power and financial revenue for the Town.

Beth Greenblatt (below left), of Beacon Integrated Solutions shared background information on the project origin and potential revenues that will be ‘generated’ by this installation.  Rennie Friedman (below right), Director, Project Development with Sol Systems provided design and technical information related to this solar facility.

The following slides tell the story.  There is some jargon which will translated as needed.

Beth Greenblatt reviewed this overview.  It is interesting to note that the generating output could be 4.2 million kilowatt-hours and the Town (municipal users) consume about 4.6 million kilowatt-hours.

The area shaded in orange (below) is the approximately 8.5 acres on which the solar array and storage batteries will located over the covered landfill.  The installation will not encroach on the Town’s recycling center (grey area at the bottom left of the solar project).  It is important to note that the entire installation and surrounding fence will be secured by concrete bases that do NOT penetrate the landfill’s cap.

This slide describes the technical aspects of the installation.  Something of interest, during daylight hours excess electricity will be stored in large batteries housed at the site in large storage boxes and the stored energy will flow into the electrical grid as needed.

When power is being generated there is minimal noise.  There will be HVAC units that keep the batteries at a stable temperature that produce some sound.

The image below illustrates where the 8,000 panels (dark rows) will be located.  These will not interfere with the pipes that ventilate the landfill.  The large grey area on the left center shows the battery storage area and maintenance facility.  The green line surrounding the panels / maintenance area is the 7’ high fence.  The turquoise lines around the project area are environmental areas that will not be disturbed.

Below, is a rendering of what the installation MIGHT look like when viewed from the Marshall Street soccer complex.

Here’s where it gets exciting.  If Sol Systems, the Affected System Operator (ASO), receives a Level 0/1 rating then power COULD flowing by year’s end.  If the rating is Level 3, power would likely be flowing about 9 months later.  The decision as to which rating Sol Systems receives is expected by the end of next month.

Of course, a project of this scope has many regulatory reviews to complete.  Some are listed below.

Lastly, Mr. Friedman reviewed the potential health and safety impacts of generating electricity using solar energy.

mG = milligauss; A measure of an electromagnetic field.

Sol Systems is committed to Holliston.  The firm will be sponsoring a team in the Holliston Youth Soccer league.  Sol Systems will endow a scholarship for HHS students going on to study in an energy-related program.

The Board’s questions were handled by Ms. Greenblatt and Mr. Friedman.  Mr. Sparrell inquired about battery life expectancy and Mr. Friedman was going to follow up with a specific answer.

There were no questions from the public during the roughly hour-long presentation.

Following the presentation Mr. Ahern provided a couple of updates to the Board.  The meeting adjourned at 7:44pm.