Town of Berlin taking great strides toward a more sustainable community

On Thursday September 16, 2021, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) was invited to celebrate the Town of Berlin’s new solar PV installation. Pictured above are Town of Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall, Electric Utility Director Tim Lawrence and other Town of Berlin staff; representatives from MEA including Chief of Staff Chris Rice and program managers Abigail Antonini and Briggs Cunningham, and the Carter CAT team that implemented the project on behalf of the Town. The Town of Berlin project was the first to be completed under MEA’s Public Facility Solar Grant Program. This program provides grant funding to State, County or Municipal government entities to support the planning and installation of solar arrays on existing infrastructure of public facilities. 

The Town of Berlin received approximately $120,000 in grant funds from MEA for the installation of its 48.9kW solar rooftop array on the Electrical Department Office Building and an adjacent building. Berlin is a unique entity as it is both municipality and utility, and this array will help identify ways to incorporate solar into the Town’s grid. This project can also serve as an example to other municipal utilities. The system will generate an anticipated 66,000 kWh per year, enough to power 6 homes.

Photo Credit: Town of Berlin 

This project is just one example of Berlin’s leadership in clean energy efforts.  The community recently converted a 1960s vintage oil burning generator to clean natural gas, reducing emissions, and improving reliability with modern equipment. The generator is used to reduce costs to the municipal utility when energy costs are high.  In addition, with $37,576 in support from MEA’s Maryland Smart Energy Communities (MSEC) grant program, Berlin has replaced nearly 400 streetlights and all of its indoor lighting at the Town’s Welcome Center, reducing consumption by more than 101,000 kWh annually.

For more information on the Public Facility Solar Grant Program please visit the site at: https://energy.maryland.gov/govt/Pages/PublicFacilitySolarGrantProgram.aspx