Carver first in the state to develop roadside solar energy project (Mass.)

http://www.wickedlocal.com/carver/news/x2138485791/Carver-first-in-the-state-to-develop-roadside-solar-energy-project

There has long been talk of a solar project on Route 44. The project would install a 122-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system approximately 40 feet wide and 500 feet long along the roadway in an effort to power the town’s North Carver water supply project wells on the Cole property with green technology.

Just a few weeks ago, Town Administrator Rick LaFond, Selectman Dick Ward and Director of Planning and Community Development Jack Hunter met with Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, to discuss the plan and gauge interest in the idea. Hunter said the senator was “very receptive to it,” but there were some hurdles, such as gaining approval from MassHighway, that needed to be jumped.

At the town’s community forum on the North Carver Water District Wednesday night, Pacheco was on hand to personally announce that MassHighway has indeed approved the request by granting a 25-year easement over 1.26 acres of the state-owned land that runs along the northern side of Route 44 between the Cole property and Route 58.

“I am pleased that we were able to play a role in helping to establish a partnership between the state government and the town of Carver that will, I hope, be a model for future such projects across the commonwealth,” Pacheco said. “This is just the type of project we should be encouraging. It will not only save energy resources, helping us move toward a smaller carbon footprint, but it will also create jobs in the region.”

<more>