Construction for a solar array at Katama Farm is set to begin this winter, now that the Edgartown planning board approved a special permit for the project this week, clearing the last hurdle for what will be the Island’s largest installation of photovoltaic panels.
Chilmark police are investigating the theft of 21 solar panels from the Grey Barn on South Road stolen sometime over Presidents Day weekend.
According to the police report, the crate containing the panels weighed over 1,000 pounds. The 270-watt panels are valued at $14,000. Farm owners Eric and Molly Glasgow are currently outfitting their four new barns with solar panels, about 300 of which have already been installed.
Calling it an inappropriate use of prime agricultural land, the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society appealed to the Edgartown selectmen this week to reconsider a plan to use five acres at Katama Farm for a solar panel project that is not yet built. Town leaders responded that they intend to stay the course with the project.
In a letter sent to the selectmen this week, agricultural society president Dale McClure urged to the town to find alternative sites for the photovoltaic panels.
Eight months from now, the Vineyard could finally be able to boast its first significant, working, zero-carbon energy project. And the power will come not from wind but from the sun.
By the start of July two towns, Edgartown and Tisbury, could be harvesting all their municipal energy needs from several acres of solar panels, and doing it affordably.
Foundations for the new Martha’s Vineyard Hospital won’t be poured until spring, but already the hospital has big plans for the rooftops.
This week the hospital received notice from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the state’s development agency for renewable energy and the innovation economy, that the hospital will receive a $198,000 design and construction grant for solar electric panels atop the new building.
Aquinnah Selectmen Will Seek Bylaw to Regulate Energy Use
By IAN FEIN
With the energy demands of large homes a growing concern across the Island, Aquinnah selectmen this week unanimously endorsed a regulation that would require new homes over a certain size to include renewable energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines.
"This is an important measure," selectman James Newman said at the regular board meeting on Tuesday, after proposing the energy requirement. "And I think that this community should be a leader on the issue."