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Town of Gray Solar Array Now Monitorable Online

The solar array, which was built in 2020, has offset more than 1.2 million miles worth of car emissions so far in its lifetime.  
Posted on: August 11, 2022 - 10:27am
The solar array
The solar array next to the Transfer Station

When you visit the Transfer Station on Seagull Drive in Gray, you probably notice quite a few solar panels next to the station. If you’ve ever been curious about the solar array, including how much energy it provides, now you can track it online!  

In 2020, the Town of Gray partnered with South Portland-based ReVision Energy to install the ground-mounted solar array near the Transfer Station. The 360-kilowatt solar project is comprised of 960 panels and generates over 485,000 kilowatt-hours of clean solar energy every year.   

When the sun is shining, the solar array produces electricity that is either used in real-time by Town buildings, or fed back to the electricity grid where it benefits our community (and earns the Town a credit). Each year, the system will offset about 475,995 pounds of carbon, the equivalent of over 607,446 miles driven in a gas-powered car. 

This project was financed through a Power Purchase Agreement, which means the Town of Gray paid no upfront fee to install the solar panels. Instead, an investor paid the upfront cost for installation while the Town pays for the power generated from the project each month, instead of paying for power from the grid. After some time, the Town can opt to buy the entire system at a significantly lower price and own all the solar power generated outright.   
 
To see the power produced by the solar array, both today and throughout its lifetime, click here. You can view a gallery of drone imagery of the solar array here.

As of August 11, 2022, the array has generated enough clean energy to offset 1.09 million pounds of CO2 emissions and generated enough power to operate the average house for nearly 76 years.