Solar Projects to Generate 5.7 Gigawatt-Hours of Electricity

Nearly nine acres of rooftop solar arrays in Boston’s Seaport District are helping the City of Cambridge save money on its energy bill, despite being located outside of the city. These two installations, along with a third solar array in Dedham that is slated to come online later in 2017, will total 4.56 MW of solar capacity and are expected to generate 5.7 gigawatt-hours of solar electricity annually, enough to power nearly 970 Cambridge homes.

“In addition to providing savings on the City’s electricity bills these projects are a vehicle for the City to contribute to increasing the amount of renewable energy in the region,” said Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager.“

The 2008 Massachusetts Green Communities Act created programs to greatly expand the amount of solar energy developed within the Commonwealth. Under the Act, a city or town may enter into an agreement with a solar developer to purchase the entire output of a commercial scale solar array. Cambridge’s billing mechanism allows the City to receive energy credits on its utility bill from the remotely located solar installations that feeds energy into the grid.

Two of three solar arrays for which the City has signed virtual net metering agreements are operational and generating clean, renewable solar energy.

For more information about this project or other sustainability initiatives in Cambridge, visit cambridgema.gov/theworks/energyefficiency.