Solar with Energy Storage Success: Cuttyhunk Island, MA Celebrates Its First Summer Going Majority Solar-Powered

GOSNOLD, Mass–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Four hundred and fifteen years after hosting the first English trading
settlement in New England, picturesque Cuttyhunk Island made new history
this year, celebrating its first summer getting the majority of its
electricity from a solar electric array that also charges an energy
storage system for nighttime power.

Throughout the summer, the microgrid system, developed earlier this year
by Solar Design Associates Inc. of Harvard, Mass., has provided the
majority of the electricity for Cuttyhunk residents as well as summer
boaters visiting its harbor. The combination of solar and storage
provides more than 80 percent of off-season electricity as the
summertime population of 300 shrinks to about 50 year-rounders.

The island, which has 174 electric meters, had previously relied solely
on diesel-powered generation with fuel delivered by barge for all of its
electricity. The new Cuttyhunk microgrid comprises 1,020 solar panels
with maximum output of 351.9 kilowatts, plus 1,000 kilowatt-hours of
electric storage in a bank of lithium-ion batteries. The project was
supported by a U.S. Agriculture Department rural electrification grant.

Paul Elias, a member of the Gosnold Electric Light Commission that
oversees the town-owned utility serving the island, said: “We’ve been
delighted with the performance of the system Solar Design Associates
engineered and installed, and they have been superb to work with. The
microgrid’s performance and reliability have exceeded all our
expectations, and we are on track to burn 30,000 fewer gallons of diesel
fuel this year. That is an excellent benefit for the environment of this
unique place and major cost savings for the community.”

Solar Design Associates president Steven J. Strong said: “Solar plus
storage is clearly the next frontier for renewable energy, and the
Cuttyhunk project validates the extraordinary benefits this innovative
approach can deliver for cost, reliability, and sustainability at
community scale.”

SDA is currently developing a solar-plus-storage system for the Isle au
Haut Electric Power Co. in Maine that is projected to provide 100
percent of its year-round electricity and eliminate its dependence on a
35-year-old undersea electric cable. Isle au Haut has 140 year-round and
seasonal electric customers.

“While solar plus storage is an especially compelling approach for
island communities dependent on high-cost diesel generators or
costly-to-maintain cables, we’ve developed solar plus storage solutions
for commercial, industrial, and utility customers as well,” Strong said.
“We see enormous potential around the world for this transformational
energy technology.’’

On Cuttyhunk, Solar Design Associates served as Engineer-of-Record for
the project, providing design and engineering, procurement assistance,
permitting support, construction management, and full system
commissioning.

Cuttyhunk, 14 miles by sea from New Bedford, is the westernmost of the
Elizabeth Islands that comprise the town of Gosnold, whose 75
inhabitants counted by the 2010 Census make it the least-populated town
in Massachusetts. Gosnold is named for 17th century explorer
Bartholomew Gosnold, whose crew set up a sassafras-harvesting outpost on
Cuttyhunk in 1602 and the first known English trading post in New
England.

About Solar Design Associates, Inc.

Passionately committed to renewable energy, Solar Design Associates has
been providing comprehensive renewable solutions to building owners,
solar developers, academic institutions, government and utility clients,
creatively integrating renewable energy systems into buildings and
utility infrastructure in New England, nationwide, and around the world
since 1974.

Contacts

Media contact:
Denterlein
Peter Howe/Nicole Clifford,
617-482-0042