Cooperative building Bar Harbor solar farm

Photo / Tim Greenway A 188-panel solar array is set to be built at a public works site in Bar Harbor thanks to a cooperative of local electricity users.

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A 188-panel solar array that will generate 59,000 kilowatt hours a year is set to be built at a public works site in Bar Harbor off of Crooked Road.

The Bangor Daily News reports 40 people, including local residents and officials from Bar Harbor, ReVision Energy and U.S. Sen. Angus King, gathered on Monday to celebrate the start of the project’s development.

Although the project is on town property, it is not financed by the town, nor is it going to generate electricity for the town, the BDN reported. Instead, a cooperative of area electricity users paid for the project. Each contributed at least $1,000 to get the solar plan off the ground. That cooperative includes Peekytoe Provisions, a retail seafood business on Main Street in the town.

John Luft, branch manager for ReVision Energy, told the BDN that there are a half-dozen other member-financed solar farms across the state. He said the Bar Harbor project will be the first to be on public land.

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