Ocean City makes big solar move

Renewable energy in Ocean City has been a hot topic in recent years with offshore wind projects on the horizon. Some citizens find wind turbines to be an eyesore, while others find them interesting to see. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the old adage says, but why does anyone care what wind turbines look like? Aren’t there more important considerations? Are we really so shallow that we would allow fossil fuels to be burned unnecessarily, just because of a few wind turbines/ While the visibility of the wind turbines has been a point of contention, town officials say they are still committed to making Ocean City more environmentally responsible

One way officials hope to achieve this renewable energy goal is through solar power.

Ocean City has partnered with Constellation, an Exelon company, to build a 10-megawatt solar energy project that will include more than 30,000 photovoltaic panels on 113 acres of land.
Of those 10 megawatts, Ocean City will receive power from 3.5 of them, while Eastman Chemical Company will purchase the remaining 6.5 megawatts. Eastman will use its portion to help power a manufacturing facility in Chestertown, Maryland. The groundbreaking for the project, which is located about 10 miles west of Ocean City at the intersection of Routes 50 and 90, will take place Thursday morning.
Brendon Quinlivan, executive director of Distributed Energy Origination for Constellation, said when the company was identifying potential customers for solar projects in the Delmarva region, the town of Ocean City was one that displayed considerable interest.
"We're happy this type of offsite project is one we can bring to fruition for the town since they are very interested in contracting off-site renewable energy projects," Quinlivan said. "We're glad solar can allow for that in a way that's appropriate and approved by the local community as well."

Solar to produce a fifth of the town’s annual energy needs

As a subsidiary of Pepco, Delmarva Power will distribute the energy produced by Constellation's solar project to Ocean City. The solar panels are anticipated to account for about 20 percent of the town's annual energy use.At a recent meeting, the mayor and council moved to increase Ocean City's renewable energy use to 51 percent by next year. Currently, the town uses 35 percent renewable energy, of which 15 percent is mandated by the state of Maryland.

Key buildings slated to get solar

Ocean City officials have designated key town-owned buildings, such as city hall, the convention center and the water plant, that will receive power generated from the solar panels.
In the first year, the solar energy system is expected to generate more than 5.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity for Ocean City and save taxpayers about $120,000 per year, according to Constellation's press release. Constellation also anticipates the system will reduce carbon emissions by nearly 4,200 metric tons, which has a greenhouse gas equivalent of 899 passenger vehicles driven, according to predictions from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Solar power is here to stay, and the sooner you explore how much you can save, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits of residential solar power. Go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. It tells you how much solar power you need, and how much you can save.

Please visit our solar blog to find out more about the benefits of going solar.