Melrose Awarded First SolSmart Innovation Award
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we are running a series of posts about a number of different projects, supervised by Sustainability Manager Martha Grover, that are making Melrose greener.
Pictured here are the Melrose Highlands Congregational Church Big Roof Solar coordinators Jeff Doody and Lori Timmermann, Sustainability Manager Martha Grover, State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian, and Mayor Paul Brodeur
The city is pleased to announce that the Melrose “Big Roof Solar” campaign was recently awarded the first ever SolSmart Innovation Award for implementing a unique solar marketing and outreach program tailored for nonprofits, houses of worship, and small businesses, expanding solar beyond the residential market.
Big Roof Solar is a project of the volunteer Melrose Energy Commission, Resonant Energy, Boston Solar, and the city. SolSmart is a national designation program which recognizes cities that foster the development of mature local solar markets and is funded by the US Department of Energy. Melrose boasts of over 350 rooftop solar installations across the city with more coming online every week and was awarded the Bronze SolSmart designation in 2017.
In 2019, three houses of worship including Melrose Highlands Congregational Church (MHCC), Green Street Baptist Church, and First Baptist Church participated in Big Roof Solar and installed a combined total of 90 kW of solar PV. The 62.1 kW MHCC project is especially creative in that half of the solar savings will fully support church functions and the other half of the solar production is being sold at a discount to Malden-based food pantry Bread of Life in a community solar arrangement. The total savings for the MHCC project for year 1 alone will be $15,687 and over $390,000 over 25 years.
More information about going solar in Melrose can be found on the Melrose Energy Commission website atwww.melroseenergy.org or by contacting Melrose Sustainability Manager Martha Grover in the Office of Planning and Community Development at 781-979-4195 or mgrover@cityofmelrose.org.
