North Adams Solar Array Pays Off

North Adams has seen the light: Its 3.5-megawatt solar array is producing enough energy to meet all its municipal electricity needs.

The Berkshire Eagle reports In North Adams, that has not come as a surprise to anyone who helped plan the array.

But the fact that the 6,000-panel installation — it was built in 2015 and covers 14 acres on a capped landfill — consistently is producing beyond original projections has forced city officials to make a few adjustments. After covering its own electric bills, the city is sitting on unused net-metering credits valued at about $200,000 that it hopes to unload on other municipalities, according to City Administrative Officer Michael Canales.

Mayor Thomas Bernard. said"It's a good problem to have in that we can sell [excess credits] back into the market. ...