JAMAICA, Vt. – Norwich Solar, a solar energy company based in White River Junction, Vt., that specializes in a variety of solar-related projects, will soon be installing a solar array over a gravel pit area in Jamaica. The company has also worked on solar projects with such companies as King Arthur Baking, Harpoon Brewery, and a host of Vermont Dairy Farms.
Norwich Solar has already received a Certificate of Public Good (CPG) from the Vermont Utility Commission to complete the 500 kilo-watt solar array, to be placed upon a depleted gravel/sand extraction area in Jamaica. This coming on the heels of Norwich recently completing a similar project over an old landfill in nearby Putney.
“The CPG was issued last Dec. 16,” Charlie Peck of the Jamaica Planning Commission said in a recent interview. “According to Martha Staskus of Norwich Solar, construction work on the project will begin sometime after April 15. She also cited the presence of a deer wintering area in the project vicinity as the reason for delaying the construction until mid-April.”
When completed, it is estimated that the ground-mounted solar panel array will generate enough power to supply approximately 130 homes per year. According to the project plans, the array will cover approximately three acres of a larger piece of land that includes Kings Plot, which houses four homes and pads for tiny homes.
This entire project is the result of an agreement about where the solar array could be placed between the Jamaica Planning Commission, the Jamaica Selectboard, and the Windham Regional Planning Commission. In a collaborated statement from all three parties, it was recommended to endorse Norwich Solar’s CPG application based on the project’s compliance with all Act 174 compliant energy plan’s solar siting criteria.
“It has been a pleasure to work with the Town of Jamaica throughout this process of planning for the array,” Martha Staskus said in a recent press release from Norwich Solar. Staskus is the Chief Development Officer for the solar energy company.
Upon its completion, the solar array will provide 50% of Jamaica’s renewable source goal, and the town Selectboard is encouraging officials at Norwich Solar to continue searching for other proper locations in Jamaica for solar arrays. They already have all the proper permits to launch the gravel pit project in the spring.
The physical work on the project is expected in the spring, including the final design and procurement. With another 20-plus projects in the plans for this year, Norwich Solar should be providing more than 13 million kilowatt hours of solar energy throughout the Northern New England Region. Norwich Solar is a division of Norwich Technologies, which develops, commercializes, and deploys clean-energy innovations for commercial, community, and utility uses.