Aside from a $15,000 fence, several hundred dollars annually for insurance and maybe some sheep to keep the grass short, Granite State Solar is serving savings up on a platter to the residents of Webster.
That is at least how one of the solar company’s partners, Eric Shifflett, and several selectmen put it Monday night.
“What I’ve pretty much been telling people in town is, this is pretty much a no-brainer,” Selectman Mike Borek said.
Shifflett said he hopes that his Boscawen company will benefit too, with Webster becoming a pilot program for municipal solar arrays.
The project has been spearheaded by the town energy committee, and Shifflett explained the details Monday.
The 144-panel array is planned for a small section near the Webster Elementary School soccer field. Connected to a Unitil meter, the project is expected to offset the town’s $11,800, annual electrical usage by 98 percent.
Shifflett explained that, through the state’s net metering program, energy produced by the panels will flow back to the power company, crediting Webster with that production in the meantime.
Because New Hampshire participates in the Renewable Energy Certificates energy commodities program, Shifflett said, Webster would receive about $3,100 annually in REC checks, too.
A state Public Utilities Commission commercial rebate program that pays 65 cents per AC watt would also provide the town with $29,640 toward the overall $99,360 project cost.
For the rest, Webster officials plan to ask residents on town meeting day for a five- to seven-year loan.
In the end, the return on investment period would take about five years. In the meantime, the panels are under warranty to work for 25 years.
Attendees Monday night had a few questions – such as whether the town would need private insurance for non-warranty incidents: lightning strikes or cloudy years with lower energy output.
Town officials said that would be the case, though they guessed insurance wouldn’t be any more than several hundred dollars.
One woman wondered about vandalism. Shifflett said an 8-foot-tall chain-link fence, estimated to cost $15,000, should do the trick. As for maintenance costs, Shifflett said there’s only one: summer grass underneath the panels.
“You could solve it with some sheep or a weedwhacker,” he said.