The City of Lowell received $954,000 from the '09 Recovery Act Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. Shortly it will submit it's overall Energy Strategy which will outline its intended programs and actions to reduce the city's energy consumption and how it's stimulus share will fit into it's overall goals.
The energy management services contract with Ameresco has completed the audit of all the city's structures and has identified thirty types of conservation measures across fifty buildings. Five buildings that will be targeted for PV installation are the Reilly Elementary, the Pawtucketville Elementary, the Butler Middle, and the Shaughnessey Elementary Schools and the Lowell Memorial Auditorium for a total of 429K kw.
The Renewable Energy Trust has just announced it's new guidelines for the Commonwealth Solar and the Commonwealth Stimulus programs. The Stimulus rebate for larger commercial PV systems will offer an incentive if a $100 /watt dc, while the Commonwealth Solar rebates for smaller residential and commercial systems will offer a base incentive of $1.00/watt dc with an additional $1.00 for moderate income participants.