Cape Codder

BREWSTER – The twin wind turbines once proposed for Freeman’s Way in Brewster remain only a dream, but town-owned land is about to host the largest solar project on the Outer Cape.

“At the end of this week it’s essentially complete,” declared Luke Hinkle, president of MyGenerationEnergy.

Hinkle’s company has finished installing 1,440 solar panels manufactured by Sharp Electronics of Memphis, Tenn. on three-acres of land next to the water department in Commerce Park, just off Freeman’s Way.

“It’s one of the most innovative concepts for the production of renewable energy,” observed Jillian Douglass, assistant town manager and member of the energy committee  “It makes it accessible to regular folks. Anybody can buy into it, even if the don’t have a site at their home they can participate in solar energy by purchasing a share.”

Construction started just after Thanksgiving.

“We still have to finish the wiring and get it inspected,” Hinkle said. “It’s on schedule to turn on in February.”

The company has been selling “SunShares” that purchase the electricity produced by 28 solar panels for $5,000 each. Hinkle said each share would be worth at least $6,400 in electric credits ($106 a month) over the next five years. That can be used to offset homeowners’ or businesses’ electric bills, or if the bill is less than the credits they can be used after the five years as well.

“They’re carried forward indefinitely,” Hinkle said.

The 28 panels will produce about 9,000-kilowatt hours worth of electricity a year. Each SunShare comprises 2 percent of the energy produced and they’ve sold about half of the 50 shares so far. The electricity will be metered into the grid and NStar will distribute the credits as the cooperative instructs it.

“This was the first ground-mounted grid in Brewster,” Douglass declared. “We liked the idea of having the community invest in solar and this was a different way to do that. Having the benefits come back to the individual is a nice concept.”

MyGeneration hopes to sell $250,000 worth of sun shares to help finance the $1.5-million dollar project. They’ll also sell renewable energy credits benefit from tax incentives. If the tax laws are altered by a new regime it won’t matter.

“If politics change and you’re in – you’re in,” Hinkle said.

At the end of five years the cooperative (comprised of sun share holders) can decide whether to renew the contract or not. The panels have a life expectancy of 25-years and the lease with Brewster is for 20 years with to optional five-year renewals.

The panels sit on concrete posts in an old sand pit across from the Captains Course driving range.

“The concrete is made in Yarmouth, the steel from Hingham,” Hinkle noted.

MyGeneration will pay Brewster about $11,500 in 2012 and that will creep up to $18,844 by 2032. Brewster received one other response to their request for proposals: from Project Navigator, a multi-National cooperation. That was for a power purchase lease, not what the town wanted.

Brewster has another project on tap: Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative will build a solar array atop the landfill at the transfer station. That is permitted and construction could start this spring. The CVEC project has a 1,219-kilowatt capacity compared with MyGeneration’s 346.

MyGeneration, which is based in Brewster, has other projects on tap for 2012, including 10,000 panels planned for just north of the Barnstable Airport.

11/29/2011 6:30pm at the Brewster Ladies Library

Meet the founding members of the Brewster Community Solar Garden Cooperative and learn about the positive change they are creating in Brewster.    Find out why so many have already signed up to receive the locally grown solar energy.  Shake hands and chat with community members who are choosing solar energy over the traditional methods of power production.

It has been a long journey that began in 2009, but finally, the first Community Solar Garden is under way in Brewster.  My Generation Energy, a leader in local solar energy, is constructing the array of 1,440 solar panels in a field near Freemans Way.  Now is the time to apply for membership in the Cooperative and purchase your Sunshare™.  The 72 Sunshares are being awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Join the Brewster Community Solar Garden Cooperative and reduce your dependence on dirty, foreign sources of energy.

Prospective members are encouraged to attend the gathering. No commitment required.

The gathering starts at 6:30pm on Tuesday November 29^th at the Brewster Ladies Library. Refreshments will be served.

For more details on becoming a member of the Cooperative, call 508-694-6884 or go to www.brewstercommunitysolargarden.com.

by Rich Eldred

Cape Codder; October 24th 2011

Brewster is on the verge of approving zoning rules for solar arrays (Articles 16 and 17 on the Nov. 7, town meeting warrant) but they’ve inked a lease for a two-acre solar panel array on land at the Water Department off Freeman’s Way.

The lease is for 30 years and was signed with My Generation Energy of Dennis.

“We arranged it like any other business in the industrial park area,” explained Luke Hinkle, President of the company, which is based on Great Western Road. “We’re paying them an annual lease. The energy will be provided to the grid. The net metering credits go to the members of the co-op; the Brewster Community Solar garden Cooperative.”

The cooperative is open to Brewster residents and businesses only and shares are still available.

“So when you sign up for the cooperative you get networking credits for five years that will exceed the price. After five years the cooperative can reinstate the deal or purchase the system,” Hinkle said.

The town will receive $12,000 for the first lease payment and that figure will escalate annually.

The array will cover about two acres and My Generation is also leasing some additional land for an access road. It will be built to the left of the Water Department, where there’s a field, to limit the amount of tree clearing.

“We will revegetate with native species underneath and around the panels so there is not bare ground,” Hinkle said. “It will be like the under story of the forest. There will be ferns underneath and huckleberry between the rows.”

The 1,440 panels will be two-feet off the ground in front and seven feet high in back, tilted towards the sun. Each group of 20 panels constitutes a sun share, which will produce $90 of electricity a month. The project will generate $400,000 kilowatt-hours a year.

“That’s realistic over the course of a year,” Hinkle said. “We’ll start construction (this) week. It will be up by January or February. The parts are on the way and it is permitted. We’re still selling shares in it.”

The sun shares go for $5,000 apiece and Hinkle guarantee’s $5,500 in electricity credits, at a minimum, over the five years.

Anyone interested can call 508-694-6884.

Read more: Brewster inks solar deal – construction starts this week – - The Cape Codder http://www.wickedlocal.com/brewster/news/enviroment/x1872807942/Brewster-inks-solar-deal-construction-starts-this-week#ixzz1bkh9lj3D

Because the Brewster Community Solar Garden is a tool for cultivating clean and renewable solar energy as well as a vehicle for economic growth, Brewster area businesses are being given membership preference until October 15^th.  Since local businesses generally have higher electricity bills, they are eligible to purchase between two and thirty SunShares.  Typical households will require one or two SunShares.

Details about the benefits of membership in the Brewster Community Solar Garden Cooperative along with membership applications can be obtained by calling (508) 694-6884 or emailing info at brewstercommunitysolargarden.com.  Completed applications may be submitted via email or call (508) 694-6884 and we’ll be glad to pick up your application.

My Generation Energy’s Operations Manager, Mike Thonus commented: “It is an impressive project that will benefit many families and businesses in Brewster. I think it is a great added bonus to be producing clean and emission-free electricity.”

dfraser@capecodonline.com

May 04, 2011

BREWSTER — Solar power fared better Tuesday night than wind power did Monday.

On the second night of town meeting, voters unanimously approved amending zoning bylaws to allow the deployment of large arrays of solar power panels. Three areas are under consideration: Commerce Park and The Captains Golf Course, which were already approved at a prior town meeting but weren’t zoned for solar power, and the town landfill, which voters approved for solar power Tuesday night.

Town Administrator Charles Sumner estimated that the power generated at the three sites would either be sold to NStar or applied to the accounts of municipal departments. Sumner estimated the town could realize around $120,000 annually from the installations.

Before passing a $902,000 capital budget, speakers spent a lot of time debating a $24,000 study that would help the town find additional revenues. Use of the golf course and revenues have been declining in recent years and at least one speaker questioned whether the town should remain in the business of running a municipal course. But board of selectmen chairman Ed Lewis pointed out the golf course was self-sustaining, even with reduced revenues.

Golf commission chairman Rob Harris said that revenues from the course pay all associated expenses, including salaries, and contributed more than $6 million to town coffers over its 26 years of existence as well as paid off more than $6.5 million of its own construction and other debt.

The capital budget also included, among other projects, $88,000 for three new police cruisers; $50,000 for repairs to the fire station; $10,000 to fix the Lower Mill Pond dam at the historic Stony Brook site; and $221,304 for projects in the Nauset Regional School District.

Although the Community Preservation Act request was for $634,195, affordable housing and open space held their funding in reserve for future projects and there was just one project proposed for funding: $250,000 toward the Brewster Meeting House preservation.

Some questioned why taxpayer money was going toward a building that was in private hands. But voter Elbert Ulshoeffer stepped up to defend the expenditure.

“This is a historic building,” he said. “It’s where this town was founded. This is Brewster’s historic monument and it should be saved.”

Voters overwhelmingly approved the full amount of the CPA request.

Other articles approved Tuesday night included:

Nearly $63,000 in human services funding to 12 different organizations serving those in need or at risk.

$4,500 for the Bayside Skippers, jump rope performers.

$210,173 transferred from cable franchise fees as part of a shared expense with neighboring towns to build a cable access studio at Nauset Regional High School.

Link to Cape Cod Times Article

If you live, work, or do business on the Cape, you are part of shaping our shared future! In our region, new open access middle mile broadband infrastructure combined with compelling economic and environmental trends add up a chance for us to spark new ways of managing this very special place. We can float with the tide — or command our own destiny. Be part of SmarterCape. Be part of the solution for our future.

Smarter Power, Monitoring, Solar Gardens and Smart Grids Session, Tuesday May 10th 2011: Dr Luke Hinkle, CEO & President of My Generation Energy, will speak about Smarter Power on Tuesday afternoon.   My Generation Energy is a Solar installation and investment company based in Dennis MA. This Session will discuss CEDS’ priority project which takes on the seemingly insatiable demand for energy and shows how a little broadband can go a long way to taming it, from home monitors to solar gardens and smart grids.

Smarter Cape Current Agenda