by Valerie Hurley ·
Friday, June 19, 2026
According to the Select Board, the possibility of a solar power facility in Harvard was not extinguished by Town Meeting’s May 2 vote against leasing the town’s former gravel pit on Stow Road to a solar energy company.
At its Tuesday meeting, board members discussed a revised plan that would lock in the tax credits that are set to expire two weeks from now. It would also buy time to further study the former gravel pit and possibly some other sites. The power generated by the proposed solar array would offset, through energy credits, electricity costs for Harvard’s municipal buildings.
As outlined at this week’s meeting, the plan calls for the town and Solect Energy to sign a credit purchase agreement by July 4. The agreement is predicated on Solect investing, upfront, 5% of the project’s total cost in the purchase of solar panels for Harvard. Doing so would allow Solect and Harvard to enter the credit power agreement in compliance with the IRS regulations governing the tax incentive program, securing an estimated $1.3 million in tax incentives. Solect would have four years, from July 4, to complete construction.
Select Board member Ahmet Corapcioglu, who has taken Select Board lead on the project, acknowledged the appearance of “coming through the back door” after Town Meeting rejected a warrant article allowing the Select Board to lease the former gravel pit to Solect. The article had failed by 14 votes on a required two-thirds vote, 178-107; the Select Board subsequently withdrew the accompanying zoning articles from consideration at Town Meeting.
But the proposal under discussion Tuesday evening was different, Corapcioglu said: The unsuccessful warrant article had linked the credit purchase agreement with the lease agreement. In an email to the Press, he said, “After the Town Meeting, we worked with Solect Energy to decouple the two components. Under the decoupled approach, Solect agreed to execute a conditional CPA first and begin studies prior to having a lease in hand; a lease would follow if all studies are satisfactory.”
The new proposal would allow for either the gravel pit or another suitable location to be used for a solar facility and would require a 2027 Town Meeting to vote on a lease for the chosen site. “That will be the gatekeeper for the residents,” he said at Tuesday’s meeting. The expanded timeline would allow for additional feasibility and engineering studies, he added.
Member Eric Ward questioned whether several sites could be adequately considered when engineering studies are usually site-specific; work might need to be repeated if a second location were to be investigated, he said. Corapcioglu agreed, adding that the town would need to refine the agreement with Solect— through town counsel—by June 30 to address that concern. “I cannot guarantee we’ll be able to agree on everything,” he said.
Member Eve Wittinger said she wanted town counsel “to really look carefully at the particular clause in the conditional purchase agreement that specifies relocating the project if the gravel pit is not deemed feasible for any set of reasons.”
The solar installation would be the same as the one discussed at May’s Town Meeting and at four public information sessions in March and April: a 1.4 megawatt solar array, without battery storage, estimated to offset $2.37 million in energy costs over a 20-year lease. On the Stow Road site, the project would occupy about 4 acres of the 13-acre parcel. According to information provided by the town’s Energy Advisory Committee—the group that originated the project—Harvard’s annual electricity bill is about $430,000 per year today and could reach $1.3 million per year or more by 2050. The 30% tax credits, which defray the total cost of the project, are calculated into the cost and savings estimates.
Zoning to support a solar facility remains incomplete. At the June 15 Planning Board meeting, members agreed they would need to expand the solar overlay district or create a special permit route for solar arrays. Member Irene Battaglia said she thought the board could use the bylaw it had developed for May’s Town Meeting. When the state completes its model solar bylaws and rolls out other regulations and policies designed to facilitate solar power, “Then we can take a stab at making our full bylaw more robust and better.”
The former gravel pit remains of interest to the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust as a site for affordable homes, as it has been, off and on, since 2006. In a June 1 letter to the Select Board, the trust asks to be included in future discussions about the best use of the former gravel pit, urging the board to “consider a range of possible uses.” At its June 15 meeting, trust members agreed to begin perc tests at the site.
Also at the June 15 meeting, member Bonnie Heudorfer summarized the possibilities for the former gravel pit as “just housing, just solar, or both.” Wittenberg, who is a member of both the Select Board and the trust, added “protected open space” as another possibility. Currently, the Stow Road land is not prioritized for protection in the town’s Open Space Plan.
The Select Board will vote on the credit purchase agreement—now under review by town counsel—at its June 30 meeting, Chair SusanMary Redinger said Tuesday.