Old sturbridge village

Old Sturbridge Village, the largest outdoor history museum in the Northeast, depicts a rural New England town of the 1830s. Guests are invited into more than 40 original buildings, including homes, meetinghouses, a district school, country store, bank, a working farm, three water-powered mills, and trade shops – all situated on more than 200 scenic acres. Visitors can meet heritage breed farm animals and interact with authentically costumed staff.

Challenge

OSV’s objectives were threefold: deploy solar energy to reduce energy expenses, provide predictable future costs that can be used in annual budgeting and as a hedge against rising energy prices, and finally to take a leadership role in environmental sustainability.

Solution

OSV  was able to install the solar array with no up-front costs thanks to Green Street & Solect’s Solar Program. Under the program, Solect Energy installed, and will service the solar array while Green Street agreed to own and operate the array going forward.  OSV receives the power generated at a fixed rate for a period of 20 years under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

Results

75% reduction of electricity costs

The system is estimated to produce 2,238,878 kilowatt hours (kWh) annually – enough power to offset roughly 75% of the museum’s annual energy needs. The amount of electricity produced annually by the array is enough to charge 440,640,000 smartphones a year and is equivalent to taking 351 cars off the road each year.