Southampton green light solar farm gets

The Board of Selectmen approved a partnership with DCS that has no obligation to the town or the residents, but offers solar panels at a reduced rate of approximately 10 percent.

Hayden said he does not know how much the panels will cost, but said the panels do cost several thousand dollars.

In 2010, panels were placed on public safety building, the Community and Senior Center complex, the library, and the parks and recreation building. Due to funding, there are no plans to install more solar panel panels. But Hayden says the town will continue to search for opportunities.

“We do not have anything currently in the works,” said Hayden. “The deal with DCS right now is mostly a residential program.”

The 2010 program for East Granby was a partial grant and partial federal government program, in which panels were installed free of charge for use by the town. They can later be purchased at a cost of $1 per panel. The town will receive thousands in solar panel equipment for just $4, Hayden said.

While residents may not get the discount the town is receiving, energy savings by the town will help reduce costs by requiring less taxpayer money, said Hayden. Continued...

Solarcentury is racing to complete a 6.3MW solar farm near Southampton, after receiving planning permission for the project from the local council.

The company confirmed late last week that it has received consent from Eastleigh Borough Council to install 25,632 photovoltaic panels at Chalcroft Farm, West End.

Once complete the solar farm is expected to provide enough electricity for 1,800 homes.

A spokeswoman for SolarCentury told BusinessGreen it is hoping to finish construction over the next three months to ensure it receives the current two Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) per MWh subsidy currently offered to solar farms.

The government is currently considering proposals to slash the level of support for solar projects larger than 5MW in capacity to 1.5 ROCs from April 2013.

However, grid tie inverter no decision has been confirmed as yet and solar companies are increasingly concerned the delay is now seriously impacting investment plans for next year.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) told BusinessGreen on Friday that the decision would be announced shortly, but no date has been confirmed.

Frans van den Heuvel, chief executive of Solarcentury, said the project was a milestone for the company because it is the first solar farm it has developed as well as built.

"SolarCentury has designed and built 10 solar parks in the UK to date and this is the first where we have acted as developer," he said. "We currently have 68MW in our development pipeline."

EAST GRANBY — After a unanimous approval by the East Granby Board of Selectmen Nov. 28, DCS Energy will offer discount pricing early next year to town residents who want to buy solar panels offering potential energy savings up to 20 percent on their homes.

DCS Energy has had a working relationship with the town since 2010, when East Granby participated in a grant program that placed solar panels on four of the town’s buildings.

First Selectman James Hayden said the town has seen a savings in energy of about 15-20 percent.

“A lot of it depends on how the sun cooperates,” power inverter said Hayden. “But we have seen some pretty good savings from these panels.”