The Chatter 2021

Late last year, Cianbro put the finishing touches on energizing two 20-acre solar farms in Pittsfield and Hermon, Maine, for owner/operator Summit Ridge Energy. Total, the farms contain 31,254 solar panels (16,854 in Pittsfield, 14,400 in Hermon), with each location producing 5 megawatts of AC power – enough to supply hundreds of homes or small businesses.

The Cianbro team began work on the Somerset Solar project in Pittsfield in the spring after clearing the site in late 2020. The team quickly realized that they faced a logistical challenge, in that a third of the site consisted of wetlands. This led the team to tighten up its best management practices, continuously monitoring those areas and developing efficient solutions to limit disturbance while also maximizing productivity.

“We knew going in that portion of the project would not be easy,” said Andrew Zimmerman, Project Manager for both the Somerset and Hermon projects. “We did a majority of the wetlands work first, and the team really came together to overcome that challenge. Once we completed most of that work, the rest of the job was smoother sailing.”

The transition between Pittsfield to Hermon was fluid, with the two projects being nearly identical. The Pittsfield project served as the blueprint for the Hermon project. As work was completed in Somerset, those same team members would relocate to the Hermon project to build on the new site. Roughly 40 team members were working on-site at the project’s peak.

Community solar owner-operator Summit Ridge Energy acquired both projects from Cianbro with a third currently in development that is slated to be energized by the end of 2022. In total, the projects can produce 15 megawatts of clean AC power.

Under Maine’s Net Energy Bill, customers can reduce their monthly electricity expenditure by purchasing bill credits generated by community solar farms enabling households, businesses, and municipalities to share in the savings generated from a single solar farm without incurring the cost of physically installing panels on their own premises.