Westborough, MA – Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) Executive Director Mitchell Adams today joined Brockton Mayor John T. Yunits, Jr. to announce plans to build New England’s largest solar array at a remediated brownfield site on Grove Street in Brockton.

The “Brightfield” project could include as many as 6,720 solar panels connected in “strings” that span the 27-acre site, which is being described as a “solar energy park.” The array, which adds 500 kilowatts of installed capacity of clean energy into the local electricity grid, is expected to begin construction during the fall 2004. Using clean, renewable energy reduces emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

“This is a great day for the city of Brockton and an important step forward for clean energy in Massachusetts,” said Adams. “This once contaminated site is being transformed into a focal point for harnessing clean energy from the sun with no noise and no pollution while helping to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.”

MTC’s Board of Directors authorized $1.04 million in grant funding from the Renewable Energy Trust to help purchase and install this state-of-the-art solar system augmenting significant local investment by the city of Brockton. The agency is also committing $644,485 from its Massachusetts Green Power Partnership as a revenue guarantee for Renewable Energy Certificates generated by the project, which provides a creative revenue stream to support the overall financing of the array.

Mayor Yunits believes that innovative, green development such as the Brightfield project will help in other downtown revitalization initiatives, including his plans to bring more residential and economic development downtown. “The Brightfield will draw people into Brockton to marvel at what we are able to achieve in transforming a blighted property using clean, green power. It will be a tremendous asset for educating our youth and the general public about energy and the environment. People will want to come to visit the solar park. It will make people want to live in that neighborhood.”

This major solar initiative will include interpretive displays for educational purposes. Students from local schools will visit the solar array and plans are underway to incorporate hands-on learning activities in science and math classes.

“Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this project is the impact it can have toward shaping the way the next generation thinks about electricity and the direct link energy generation has with our environment,” said Renewable Energy Trust Director Rob Pratt. “Expanding the use of solar power will increase our energy independence, help support job creation at our high-tech companies and manufacturers, and lead to a cleaner environment.”

Using electricity generated by Brockton’s Brightfield will avoid the emission of about 830,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. That is the equivalent of taking 62 cars off the road, or the amount of carbon dioxide that would be absorbed by planting 124 acres of trees. Brockton’s project also avoids emissions of other greenhouse gases – almost 3,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 1,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide per year.

Brockton’s Ward 4 City Councilor Linda Balzotti said, “I am so pleased that such an environmentally beneficial and neighborhood friendly use could be found for this property. This area will be greatly improved when the project is complete.” Brownfields Coordinator Lori Columbo added, “This project is about environmental justice. People have a right to clean air and water, to be free of unnecessary traffic and noise, and to have aesthetic assets like parks and open spaces in their neighborhoods.”

Bay State as Company is contributing to the project through its cleanup activities, land acquisition, and by adding attractive landscaping and fencing around the property. “Bay State Gas Company has a long history of working with the city of Brockton on projects that improve the quality of life for its residents,” said Bay State Gas President, Stephen H. Bryant. “This undertaking exemplifies the spirit of our partnership. Not only will the Brightfields project increase the utilization of the Grove Street property, it will provide electricity from an environmentally friendly technology.” Brockton 21st Century Corporation, Spire Corporation, and XENERGY all worked on the project completing a yearlong feasibility study to develop the Brightfield project.

The new solar array will help test the competitive market for clean energy and lead to numerous additional public benefits by redeveloping a former brownfield in Brockton. Working with the city, Bay State Gas and many other partners helped to increase the leverage of public investment in the project.

MTC is the state’s economic development agency for renewable energy and the innovation economy. The agency administers the Renewable Energy Trust, which is helping to create jobs for the Commonwealth by stimulating increased supply and demand for green power. The Trust was created n 1998 through the landmark electric restructuring law to generate environmental and economic benefits for Massachusetts. For more information, please visit the agency’s website http://www.masstech.org.

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