Digested From "Project's Solar Panels Could Power Apartments"
Boston Globe by Casey Ross
The developer of a planned mixed-use complex in Boston wants to build a solar power system on top of a parking garage. The Boston Redevelopment Authority is scheduled to vote on the proposal on Jan. 29. If built, the project would be the state's largest solar installation and would generate up to 450 kilowatts of electricity, or enough to power 100 residential apartments, says developer John Rosenthal. The planned One Kenmore would be built along the Massachusetts Turnpike near Fenway Park and have 330 apartments and approximately 367,000 square feet of offices, in addition to retail stores and parking spaces. "The beauty of it is that the energy generated through the solar array would be used both on site and could feed into the energy grid," says Rosenthal. Jim Hunt, the city's chief for environmental and energy services, says the solar installation would help further Mayor Thomas M. Menino's target of developing 25 MW of solar power in Boston by 2015. Existing systems generate roughly 1 MW of solar power, and additional systems now being built would produce another 1 MW collectively. Ian Bowles, the state's environmental secretary, says it is mandatory for Rosenthal to consider energy use alternatives under Massachusetts' environmental permitting statute.
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