BERLIN – A grant will allow the town to install a rooftop solar array at the Schoolfield Street substation.
The town has received a $122,375 grant from the Maryland Energy Administration for a solar array for the substation on Schoolfield Street.
“We were the first to apply and the first to receive the grant,” Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood said.
When officials from the Maryland Energy Administration attended a ribbon cutting event celebrating the town’s natural gas generator last year, Fleetwood said they shared news of a solar grant program with municipal officials. As a result, the town applied for funding late last year. Officials learned this month that the town’s application had been successful. Berlin will receive $122,375, the total cost of the project.
Fleetwood said Carter Machinery, the same company the town worked with on its natural gas generator, would handle the project.
“They were the obvious choice,” Fleetwood said, noting the satisfactory work the company put in on the prior project.
The solar array will generate an estimated 65 megawatt hours of electricity a year. While a ground array, which could have also been located at Schoolfield Street, would have generated more electricity, Fleetwood said the grant was only available for rooftop systems. He says the new solar array will be a positive for the town even if the amount of power is modest.
“It’s not a huge generator for us but it’s a step in the right direction,” he said.
According to its website, the Maryland Energy Administration manages grants, loans, rebates and tax incentives meant to help the state achieve its goals in energy reduction, renewable energy, climate action and green jobs.
