An NStar program and tax credits lowered the cost of solar panels for Len Bicknell's Marshfield home to about $10,000.
(Stephan Savoia/ Associated Press)
Marshfield serves as NStar test bed for green energy
Incentives aimed at easing strain on the power grid
An NStar program and tax credits lowered the cost of solar panels for Len Bicknell's Marshfield home to about $10,000.
(Stephan Savoia/ Associated Press)
MARSHFIELD - Len Bicknell angled his new garage toward the sun two decades ago, making room for the solar panels he planned to slap on top. He couldn't afford the expensive panels until several months ago, however, when the company with seemingly the most to gain from big electric bills stepped in to help pay for them.
NStar, like other utilities, is confronting soaring demand for energy and has launched an aggressive effort in one seaside town to find ways to ease that pressure, doling out money for solar panels, "smart" thermostats, and energy audits to cut power use by 8 percent during peak hours.
If it fails, it may be forced to spend millions to upgrade substations.
As part of its two-year project, NStar helps residents of Marshfield purchase solar panels, offers free energy audits, and installs smart thermostats that the utility can remotely control and rein in air conditioner use.
For Bicknell, who couldn't afford the $30,000 solar-power system, participation was a no-brainer. NStar's program and tax credits helped knock down the cost to about $10,000. Since he installed them in September, they've pushed his NStar meter backward at times, generating more power than NStar is supplying.
It will take years for Bicknell to recoup his investment, but he figures rising fuel prices will only bring that break-even day here faster.
So far, NStar has completed more than 800 energy audits and placed solar panels at five commercial buildings and 27 homes. That's four times more than any other community in NStar's service area in the eastern half of Massachusetts in 2008, despite Marshfield's small size.
NStar has also installed smart thermostats free of charge in 240 homes and 80 businesses.
Other utilities have cut deals with business owners who let them put solar panels on their roofs. They have also signed agreements with residents who voluntarily allow them to regulate air conditioners.
Mark Farber of Photon Consulting, a solar-energy consulting firm, said few, if any, have tried to integrate green measures and market them to one town.
NStar could push more consumers to install less popular green technology, like the smart thermostats, by packaging it with incentives for expensive, green technology and selling it all under a banner of improved efficiency. The overall approach is a major change in an industry long focused on supplying energy, not selling less of it, Farber said
The "Marshfield Energy Challenge" was launched in April last year by NStar and its partner, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the state's economic development agency for renewable energy, which is splitting the project's $4 million cost.
Consumers aren't required to participate in one part of the program to benefit from another.
Marshfield resident Christine Fortin and her husband agreed to install the smart thermostats, in part because NStar offered free insulation upgrades as incentive. New insulation ultimately wasn't possible because of the design of their beachside house, but Fortin, who also has new solar panels on her roof, has few worries as she heads into her first summer without total control of her air conditioning.
"We're all about saving money and saving energy," she said.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
