Renewable energy

Mainers are one step closer to being able to utilize compact, plug‑in solar kits to reduce their household’s energy bill, with the legislature’s passage of LD 1730.

South Portland-based ReVision Energy has installed more than 700 rooftop solar panels at Biddeford High School, along with more on Maplewood Avenue. Combined, the two systems are projected to provide significant cost savings.

An analysis found that clean energy jobs grew three times faster than the state’s overall workforce.

“When energy costs rise, everyone feels it — at the gas pump, in heating bills and in grocery prices,” an economics professor at the University of New England College of Business told Mainebiz.

Swift Current Energy has secured tax equity financing and $248 million in project financing for its Three Rivers solar facility in Hancock County.

The ground-mounted solar array is expected to generate more than 18 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, reducing the facility’s carbon footprint while providing long-term cost predictability.

The goal is to expand the HVAC workforce and up-skill incumbent workers. The programs are expected to serve up to 1,200 participants and support 60 local businesses. 

The system will supply 36% of the company's electricity needs at the plant, and is expected to deliver an estimated $218,000 in savings over the lifetime of the installation.

Renovations included materials with low levels of volatile organic compounds, water-saving plumbing fixtures and HVAC systems that meet or exceed energy standards.

Sanford is one of the top communities in Maine for solar installation, with about 90 megawatts of installed capacity — second in the state only to Farmington.