George Harvey
Encore Renewable Energy, an integrated clean energy project development company in Burlington, Vermont, recently built two sizeable solar arrays in Vermont. One is a 745-kilowatt-peak (kWp) community array on land owned by Long View Forest in Hartland, VT. The other is a 200-kWp array on the roof of the von Trapp Brewery and Bierhall in Stowe, VT.
The Hartland sommunity solar array is built on a brownfield site. It is 745kW and is expected to supply the annual needs of about 125 households.
Long View Forest, Hartland
The project in Hartland was built on three acres of land belonging to Long View Forest, an employee-owned forest management and contracting company. The land is part of a 28-acre remediated brownfield site which is considered prime land for solar projects in Vermont, because it is environmentally degraded, making it unsuitable for many purposes. The 745-kWp array is expected to provide about 900,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity each year. Renewable energy certificates (REC) produced by the array will be transferred to Green Mountain Power to be used to meet the utility’s renewable electricity requirements under the Vermont Renewable Energy Standard.
The Hartland array is a community solar project. The amount of electricity it generates is sufficient to supply the annual needs of about 125 households.
Financing for the project was provided by the Mascoma Bank, which is getting most of the net-metering credits produced by the array. Montshire Museum of Science is also getting benefits. Between them, the two organizations will save about $700,000 on their electric bills over the course of the array’s lifetime.
Clay Adams, President, Mascoma Bank said, “We feel that with this project, right here in our backyard, we can both inspire other funders to consider investing in renewable energy and show energy consumers how they can close the loop and save money by committing to purchase energy from renewable sources. It’s been a fantastic experience to work with both Encore Renewable Energy and Long View Forest, and we look forward to continued partnerships with both companies.”
The rooftop solar array at von Trapp Brewery and Bierhall in Stowe, Vermont is 200kW.
Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe
Like the project in Hartland, the one at the Trapp Family Lodge provides its net-metering credits to the owners of the array properties and the RECs to the utility. In both cases, the businesses hosting the array get electricity at a reduced rate, saving money while the utilities move along toward their renewable energy goals.
Encore also built an array on the roof of the von Trapp Brewery and Bierhall at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT. Trapp Family Lodge Executive Vice President, Walter Frame explained, “As a partnership with Stowe Electric Department and Encore Renewable Energy, Trapp Family Lodge was able to successfully implement a 200-kW roof-mounted solar array at the von Trapp Brewing and Bierhall in Stowe, Vermont. Our partnership delivered this important project for Trapp Family Lodge, which allows us to minimize annual electric costs and support the statewide renewable energy initiatives. The electricity generated by the array provides a clean source of electricity for Stowe Electric Department, with all renewable energy credits retired for compliance under the State of Vermont’s recently enacted Renewable Energy Standard.”
Encore Renewable Energy is a certified B Corp that aims to create harmony between the natural and built environments. It was founded in 2007 to develop renewable energy projects, and since that time, has installed enough power generating systems to cover the annual needs of 16,336 New England households.
Encore Renewable Energy builds projects on both a develop-build-own-operate and develop-build-sell basis, managing all the details those functions imply. It has extensive experience with every phase of the process including design, permitting, financing, and construction. Operating as a B Corp allows it to make a profit, but it also requires the company to provide benefits to the communities in which it operates and the people with which it employs.
The Encore website is encorerenewableenergy.com.
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