New Hampshire communities use solar power to build resiliency, save money - WMUR Manchester

NH communities use solar power to build resiliency, save money

New Hampshire communities use solar power to build resiliency, save money

Towns such as Hanover use solar arrays to power municipal buildings

With energy costs spiking over the past few years, more cost-effective renewable energy such as wind, hydro and solar have come back to the forefront in New Hampshire.

More communities in New Hampshire are taking advantage of the power of the sun, generating their own power with solar panels.

Communities across the state are creating energy committees, and Hanover is one of that's leading the way. Ten years ago, Hanover was listed as one of the first green communities in New Hampshire. Now, 4,500 solar panels are installed at a farm outside Hanover.

"The whole point originally is if Hanover was the only one transitioning to renewable power, it won't mean anything. Everybody needs to," said Pete Kulbacki, Hanover director of public health. "You have to be able to walk the talk, and that is something we did."

In the past few years, numerous solar arrays in Hanover have produced more power than its municipal buildings have needed to run day-to-day operations.

"The plan is for the savings we have now, we are going to buy the arrays out, and in five more years, we'll own the arrays and essentially zero out our energy," Kulbacki said.

New London is also investing in renewable power. Jamie Hess, who is chairman of the town's energy committee, said that several years ago, the town installed solar panels on the highway garage, a move that effectively zeroed out its electric bill. Sometimes, the town gets a check for the excess power.

"It's energy independence. It's resiliency and sustainability," Hess said. "It's everything we could possibly want from this building, actually producing more energy than it consumes."

New London plans to add solar everywhere it can. Up next is the fire station.

Like other renewable energy sources, solar isn't always consistent, but that doesn't mean it isn't effective.

"They still make power even on a cloudy day, so as long as there's light falling on those panels, they're going to make some amount of electricity," said Kevin Davis, of Norwich Solar.

With cloudy or snowy days, batteries to store extra power are key.

"When you combine that, you can essentially get the benefits of cheap, clean energy from the sun around the clock," said Dan Weeks, of ReVision Energy.

While more communities are shifting to solar, the state as a whole is lagging behind.

"New Hampshire, unfortunately, hasn't got as much solar installed as a lot of our neighbors do," Davis said.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, New Hampshire is last in electricity from solar in New England, getting just 1.37% of the state's electricity from solar, far behind Massachusetts, at 20.25%, and Vermont, at 19.1%.

Experts said some policy changes could help expand solar in the Granite State.

"There's some exciting changes in work in Concord which would enable this industry to take off and add the thousands of local jobs that we've seen come to other states," Weeks said.

The New Hampshire Legislature recently passed a bill allowing municipalities to partner to build larger renewable energy generation facilities.

In addition, the state offers solar incentive rebates and a grant program for municipalities looking to shift to renewable energy. Both programs will reopen once funding for the 2024 fiscal year is allocated.

Since 2009, New Hampshire's renewable energy fund has provided $14 million in funding for 50 renewable energy projects for schools, businesses and municipalities, including biomass heating systems, hydroelectric project upgrades and solar arrays.