(Photo by Rich Eldred/USA Today Network)

Installations above the parking lot and at the driving range of The Captains Course in Brewster, Mass. are expected to start producing enough electricity in January 2022 to power 262 homes. The parking-lot installation is essentially a carport that was constructed without losing any spaces. The Town of Brewster will put $66,000 of what it earns annually through the arrangement towards the golf course’s operation, and will also get credits that will help offset the course’s own energy bill.

On December 20th, according to Peter Lombardi, Town Administrator for Brewster, Mass., solar projects being installed at The Captains Golf Course in Brewster by the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative'(CVEC) should clear the final local permitting hurdle, The Cape Codder reported.

That should start the production of electricity from The Captains property in January 2022, The Cape Codder reported. And unlike previous solar projects, this is will not be a net metering arrangement, through which the power produced is metered against electricity consumed by the town.

As a result, the town will be paid $86,000 a year through the project, $66,000 of which will go towards The Captains operation, The Cape Codder reported.

“We have a lease agreement with the developer [DSD Renewables] that was brokered by the CVEC,” Lombardi explained to The Cape Codder. “They will be paying $86,000 a year, [and] that’s net some administrative charges [by the] CVEC.

“This is a check to the town,” he added. “These are not power-purchase agreements where credits are applied to the town. This is a straight lease agreement [for 20 years] where they pay the town a check for the right to lease space.”

That means the town of Brewster won’t have to worry about maintenance costs, fluctuating electric rates or government policies, The Cape Codder reported.

“Of the $86,000, $20,000 is allocated to the general fund,” Lombardi said. “That was a decision the Select Board made last fall, [to] help offset the cost of having a part-time energy manager. That position has been funded through a Green Communities grant. Starting next year we’ll have $20,000 to cover that position.

“The other $66,000 will go to the golf course,” Lombardi added.

The installation at The Captains course is mounted above the parking lot outside the clubhouse, The Cape Codder reported. It functions essentially as a carport over the lot and has the advantage of utilizing grass strips between the lots, so no parking spaces are lost to the base mounts.

The golf course array over the Captains Course parking lot covers 63,000 sq. ft. and is a 1,490 KW system with a potential output of 1.4 million KW hours a year, The Cape Codder reported.

Another array at the driving range covers 37,000 sq. ft. and is a 480 KW system, The Cape Codder reported. It should put out 740,000 kilowatt hours a year and will last about 20 years.

The monocrystalline panels produce DC energy that is converted to AC by a converter and transferred to the grid.  Combined with the array at the driving range, the two carport canopies can produce 1763 megawatts and store 892 kilowatt hours of electricity, The Cape Codder reported, which according to DSD Renewables could power 262 homes annually.

DSD Renewables, based in Schenectady, N.Y., completed the physical installation at The Captains course in early October of 2021, The Cape Codder reported.

“We are working with the developer to produce energy credits from both projects, to something equivalent to just under $7500,” Lombardi told The Cape Codder. The credits would help offset the golf course’s energy bill, he added.