In October 2010, the Concord Municipal Light Board voted to adopt a strategy to develop 25 megawatts of utility-scale solar generation capability over a period of 25 years, in 5 megawatt increments, within the Town borders. In current photovoltaic solar technology, this requires approximately 125 acres of land (i.e., five acres per megawatt). In response, the Board of Selectmen established and charged the Solar Siting Committee in early 2011 to identify and evaluate municipally-owned land for the purpose of hosting ground-based solar arrays.

Of the73 parcels of land owned by the Town and the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District, the Solar Siting Committee has identified six sites as being suitable for hosting ground-based solar power systems and as worthy of further discussion and debate in Town. Together, these sites could accommodate approximately 12-19 megawatts of photovoltaic solar arrays. The Committee has also identified an additional three sites as being suitable but for which legislative or regulatory hurdles exist. Because the overhead of developing and operating solar arrays increases in terms of cost per unit of energy as the size decreases, the Committee limited its focus to sites that could support at least one megawatt (i.e., at least five acres).

The committee’s recommendation is a starting point for broader community discussion on how the sites should be used in the future.  All of the sites are likely to be controversial because of their current uses and/or for other potential uses in the  future.

The total amount of municipally-owned land identified by the Committee is not likely to be enough to support the Light Board’s goal of 25 megawatts in 25 years. Therefore, additional land may eventually have to be purchased or leased.  In the coming years as opportunities for ground-mounted solar installations are proposed, the Board of Selectmen will refer to the excellent analysis prepared by the Solar Siting Committee