Rhode Island could see more solar panels installed under roofs and in parking lots as state regulators approved a so-called "solar carport" in Cranston as part of a new renewable-energy development law. The proposed 29-acre solar project, one of the first ground-mounted solar projects in Rhode Island, has neighbors worried about a controversial issue that crosses city lines and marks part of Rhode Island to make way for renewable energy projects - energy projects.
Developers could have built houses on the site, but Southern Sky Renewable Energy is building an energy plant instead. CS Energy is building and developing a 21 MW solar farm owned, planned and now operated by its parent company, CS Solar, in Cranston, Rhode Island.
The Gold Meadow Farms solar project is one of several projects that Conti Solar is currently building on the other side of the ocean and in the state. The project will employ hundreds of people, with over 1,000 MW of solar panels and modules being installed. According to a recent report by the Rhode Island Department of Energy and Environment (EEP), the number of solar workers has increased by 16% in the last five years alone. This is in addition to the 2500 MW solar power plant in Providence, which was already closed last year.
In Rhode Island, solar and wind power have overtaken biomass and account for the state's largest share of renewable power generation. In 2019, for the first time, more electricity will be generated from solar and wind than from biomass, and by 2020 they will overtake biomass by supplying more than 60% of the Rhode Islands "electricity.
In 2019, Rhode Island will generate a larger share of its electricity from natural gas than any other state (about 91%), and in 2019, more than half of the electricity generated by utilities and small renewable-energy facilities will come from wind, solar, biomass, hydropower, and other renewable sources. Housing is a leader in the government's energy consumption, accounting for about one-third of total renewable energy generation and about two-thirds of total electricity generation. It is also the second largest oil consumer in a country, accounting for about a fifth of oil. Fuel oil is used in this state and much of the USA for about half of the total energy consumption.
In February, solar contracts were signed with fifteen municipalities and Kearsarge Energy was awarded a contract to install almost 10 megawatts at three landfills in the city. South Kingstown is developing its own solar power plant, following the example of East Providence, with plans for more than 1,000 MW of solar capacity.
Portfoluo includes Rhode Island's largest solar power plant, which will cover 108 hectares when it is completed by the end of this year. Hope is under construction, though Pezzullo says the solar panels will cover about 46 acres and generate about 10 megawatts. A series of closed landfills in East Providence, which is currently Rhode Island's largest solar field, will be 21.5 megawatts. One strip - a mined strip of earth in South Kingstown - will produce a production as unpredictable as the weather of the Rhode Islanders.
Meanwhile, solar energy development will not slow down, even though President Trump imposed tariffs on imported solar panels earlier this year. The price of solar carports is offered at $1,000 per megawatt hour, or about $2,500 per year, according to Pezzullo.
This is a way to encourage businesses and new construction projects to integrate energy efficiency and clean energy into building planning, "he said. Among participating states, Rhode Island will receive carbon credits that will be invested in a consumer-promotion program that includes a tax credit of up to $1,000 per megawatt hour for renewable energy projects. The program will be financed in accordance with Rhode Island law and will encourage school districts and other entities using solar energy to offset their energy costs, including the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority, to cooperate on projects on industrial and commercial sites.
Solar has already installed and operated five solar power plants on Natick Avenue, a site for Southern Skies Renewable Energy in Boston. Reliability is driven by a solar subsegment, which includes the removal of solar strips or the use of solar cells as a source of renewable energy. Solar strip mining is, as Cranstone's Douglas Doe said, "the most efficient and cost-effective form of energy generation in the world. While the elements used to make the solar cells are broken down into shill for solar energy, Doe says they are not made in Rhode Island and account for less than 0.5 percent of total energy production.
The figures show an estimated payback or break period - even a period for solar power of about five years - but factors can affect the price. For example, it is intended to ensure that the installation of solar panels does not lead to an increase in property taxes. National Grid provides a wide range of services to help Rhode Island residents, businesses and institutions meet their energy needs.