CVPS to build solar-array station
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By Bruce Edwards STAFF WRITER - Published: July 28, 2009
Central Vermont Public Service Corp. has received regulatory approval to build a 50-kilowatt solar-array power station along Route 7, near the CVPS district service center in Rutland Town.
The Public Service Board approved the $400,000 project last week. It includes about 265 solar panels, each 3 by 5-feet wide, arranged on the ground in 33 post-mounted arrays.
Several elements of the project will be built or installed by Stafford Technical Center students, including a shed, signage and landscape designs.
CV Solar and Wind, a private Rutland-based company, and ReKnew Energy Systems Inc., of South Royalton, will oversee construction with Stafford students providing assistance.
"We believe this will become the pre-eminent educational site in the state for renewable energy," CVPS President Robert Young said in a statement. "Combined with a local hydroelectric station, Glen Station, which sits just across the road, the solar project will provide a working classroom for students interested in how energy can be produced through clean, renewable sources."
CVPS proposed the solar project last year along with several renewable energy projects.
The PSB, which approved funding for the solar project last year, gave its approval for the project itself, including the site plan.
Unlike other power projects where low visibility is desired, the CVPS solar project is designed to be seen by the public.
"Typically, if you're building a substation, you would be trying to put it in a place with the least visual impact whereas in this case we're actually trying to build a project that will be extremely visible and that's part of the purpose for it," CVPS spokesman Steve Costello said Monday.
In its approval, the PSB noted the project's educational component.
"Unlike most utility projects reviewed by the board, the project is designed to be highly visible in order to fulfill one of its intended purposes — public education of photovoltaic projects," the PSB said.
Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers will complete the high-voltage electrical work.
Costello said Stafford students have already designed and will build a shed that will house some of the equipment. He said students will also help assemble the solar panels, design and install the public educational materials, including signage, and help with landscape design and planting.
Costello said landscaping will replace large pine trees on the northern edge of the property.
Construction is expected to begin after Stafford students return to school in the fall with completion by the end of the year or early next year.
bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com
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