The City of Newton is considering 20 additional locations for solar arrays in its Phase 3 Solar Projects. The locations are on City owned property including roofs of buildings and on parking canopies to be constructed on some of the City’s parking lots. A list of the locations may be found HERE.
A public meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 18 from 6:30 to 8:45pm at the Druker Auditorium of the Newton Free Library (330 Homer St., Newton). This meeting will focus only on the Library Solar Parking Canopy.
The City has already constructed solar arrays on 12 City owned sites. These sites generate about 4.4 million kWh of solar energy which is the equivalent of 21% of our municipal electricity use. The proposed projects would generate another 5.4 million kWh which would bring the percentage of solar energy in our municipal electricity usage to 47%. These solar projects help reduce our carbon footprint and also generate revenues and savings for the City. The Phase 1 and 2 solar projects generated over $650,000 in savings for the City of Newton in FY 2018. According to the U.S. EPA, the effect of these projects would be the equivalent of either removing 865 gas-powered cars from the road or the carbon sequestration effect of a 4,758 acre forest. The proposed Phase 3 projects would exceed the environmental benefits of Phases 1 and 2 combined.
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