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The town of Camden is getting cold feet about purchasing a solar array after an inspection found various issues with it.
Since 2017, Camden has had an agreement to buy power from ReVision Energy’s solar array on town land at Sagamore Farm, and on June 3, the Select Board approved a plan to buy the panels for $203,558 to help the community offset its energy costs over time.
But that purchase was conditioned on the town hiring a third party to inspect the 124-kilowatt ground-mounted solar installation. Since then, the inspection by Sparrow Energy Group revealed chronic reliability and data monitoring issues, as well as long-term maintenance concerns, according to information that will be presented to the Select Board at its meeting Tuesday night.
Now, Town Manager Audra Caler is recommending that the town defer purchasing the solar array, although it could reconsider if ReVision can resolve those issues.
The reconsideration of the purchase comes as at least one other midcoast town, Stockton Springs, also decided against purchasing solar panels that had been installed on town property. Those decisions have come as solar capacity has grown tremendously in Maine in recent years, but as debates over the technology have grown more heated.
In Camden’s case, a climate activism group called CamdenCAN has been pushing the town to purchase the solar array, arguing that it makes good financial sense and that it should do so before federal incentives for renewable energy disappear under the Trump administration.
But the recent inspection by Geoff Sparrow, of Sparrow Energy Group, highlighted various issues with the Sagamore Farm array.
He flagged problems with the array’s inverters, which convert solar energy into electricity. According to his report, seven of the system’s 13 inverters had already failed and been replaced to date, creating a “major area of concern,” Sparrow wrote.
He also flagged issues that make it hard to remotely monitor the performance of the array, requiring more in-person visits.
And he noted “significant insect intrusion into the inverter and switchgear compartments. Ants are nesting in warm/hot areas of the components. This is an area of concern in terms of equipment reliability and longevity. Pesticides could be considered as a remediation solution.”
“The system has certain reliability and data monitoring issues that have been highlighted in this report and have required consistent service calls and repairs by RE,” Sparrow wrote. “It is the opinion of SEG that Camden should defer on the buyout option of the Project until the project demonstrates that all reliability and monitoring issues have been resolved.”
Caler could not immediately be reached for comment.
