by Valerie Hurley ·
Friday, December 19, 2025
The committee in charge of advising the town on ways to reduce its energy consumption and costs has asked the Select Board for permission to pursue plans for a solar installation to supply electricity to town-owned buildings. Power in excess of what’s needed for the municipal buildings could be credited back to the town, further offsetting energy costs.
Select Board members responded favorably to a slide presentation from Energy Advisory Committee Chair Brian Smith, who outlined the proposal and answered questions Tuesday evening. “This could be a win-win all around,” said Select Board Chair Kara Minar.
The board must make a decision by the end of January. A vote of Annual Town Meeting in 2026 would be needed, too.
The solar photovoltaic system, with battery, would be built at the town-owned gravel pit, a 14-acre parcel on Stow Road. Its purpose would be to both reduce carbon emissions and stabilize “one of the town’s most volatile operating costs” by “locking in predictable energy pricing.”
Harvard could either own the installation outright and hire a contractor to operate it or enter a lease agreement—known as a power purchase agreement—with a solar developer. With direct ownership, the town assumes more risk and would need to hire an operator, but it would keep the full benefit of savings and credits. A lease agreement would pass the risk to the energy development company, and electricity rates and credits would be predictable, set by a 20-year contract between the town and the solar developer-owner.
The committee had begun exploring the idea of solar power for municipal buildings several years ago with help from solar developers Solect Energy and Power Options, Smith told the board. Planning stalled because of difficulties in integrating with the electric grid. But National Grid’s ability to connect with solar installations has recently “softened,” Smith said. And newly available federal tax credits, along with incentives from the state’s solar incentive program, Smart 3.0, would also favor the project.
The committee cited several town and state energy efficiency goals as reasons for pursuing the plan, including meeting the state’s goal of achieving gas emissions of net zero by 2050 and meeting the commitments in the town’s climate action and decarbonization plans. Smith said that aside from stabilizing the town’s energy budget, the installation could address long-term emissions, sustainability, and—with the battery component of the system—resiliency.
Select Board member Ahmet Corapcioglu, who worked on the proposal, said the energy advisory committee should report back to the Select Board in January with more detailed information about the installation’s financial model, contractual mechanisms, zoning and land-use requirements, and abutter feedback
In pursuit of its own goals, the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust is also eyeing the gravel pit as a site for housing. Against the state’s mandate that 10% of a town’s housing be affordable to anyone earning 80% of the area median income, Harvard sits at 5.7%. (That’s $66,300 for a single person, $94,650 for a family of four, according to the Harvard Housing Production Plan of 2024.)
Trust Chair Arielle Jennings said the trust would like to talk with the energy advisory committee about “possible collaboration on this parcel for housing and solar.” She added that “since 2006 … it has been at the top of the list of town-owned parcels viable for housing development.” The preliminary plan Smith presented Tuesday showed roughly half the gravel pit’s acreage would be taken up by solar panels.
To avoid missing out on federal tax credits, construction should begin by July 4, 2026, and the system must be functioning by Dec. 31, 2027.