Wiscasset selectmen heard additional details for a proposal to install solar panels on the municipal building and town garage Nov. 17.

Steve Hinchman, director of finance with ReVision Energy, outlined details of the arrangement that involves the town signing on to a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). ReVision Energy with offices in Portland and Liberty would install the solar panels at its expense and sell the town the electricity.

ReVision sets the electric rate the town pays under terms of the PPA. Hinchman said the rate for the first year would be the same as what the town presently pays Central Maine Power for electricity. The PPA rate would then rise at 4 percent annually.

Hinchman told selectmen the solar proposal benefits both ReVision and the town. Because ReVision is a privately owned company, it receives a 30-percent tax credit for the project’s construction while the town gets to buy power generated from its own solar panels.  After six years, the town could either buy the panels for $93,000 or continue leasing them. Either way, under the agreement the panels would have to stay on the municipal building and town garage for 20 years. If the town buys the system, it gets the power for free.

“Our goal is to find the least expensive path to get this into the town’s hands,” he said, adding the solar arrays and inverters were designed to last. This means the town could reap the benefits of the system for years. The solar panels require only minimal maintenance and are predicted to last 40 years.

Hinchman said if the town agrees to the PPA, construction could begin next spring or summer.

During the discussion it was noted the solar arrays wouldn’t meet all of the municipal building and town garage electrical needs. The town would still need to buy electricity from CMP or another provider.

Selectmen’s Chairman Ben Rines Jr. said before deciding, the town would have to more carefully weigh the financial costs. Rines added he’d insist on a town vote before entering into the agreement. Because the solar arrays would be placed on public buildings, their installation requires approval of the townspeople.

“We have the option to buy it for $93,000 in year seven, what happens if the town isn’t interested?” Selectman Judy Colby asked.

“You keep buying the electricity off the system for 20 years,” Hinchman replied. “After that you can take it down if the town is no longer interested.”

Hinchman recommended the board form a subcommittee to delve further into the financial details of the proposal. He offered to work with a subcommittee or selectmen and provide computer models showing the best and worst case financial scenarios.

In other business, Town Planner Jamel Torres gave selectmen a first draft of a proposed blasting ordinance. Selectmen recommended increasing the notification perimeter of a blast zone from a 500-foot radius to a 1,000-foot radius.