Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA) recently installed the largest photovoltaic system at any public transit agency in Massachusetts thanks to funding from the TIGGER Program along with state financial incentives from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

Comprising 1,911 solar panels with a peak rating of 250 Watts each, the system has a total capacity of 477,750 DC-Watts, which converts to 489,700 kWh/year of AC power. The photovoltaic system will meet 99.9% of the facility’s electricity requirements, nearly eliminating LRTA’s consumption of on-site electricity from the grid. By displacing grid electricity, much of which is produced from fossil fuels, with electricity produced from solar energy, LRTA is reducing greenhouse gas emissions and its carbon footprint.

LRTA installed the system on the roof of its Hale Street garage facility, which the transit agency uses for administrative and dispatch services as well as for storing, fueling, maintaining, and repairing vehicles (such as buses, vans, and tow trucks). The 70,000 square foot building, located in an industrial zone in Lowell, Massachusetts, was originally designed as a manufacturing facility. LRTA purchased, upgraded, and converted the building for use as a transit agency facility.