Eat Local. Heat Local. Codman Farm Installs Solar Hot Water

Codman Community Farm is a unique non-profit community resource in Lincoln, MA. Codman Farm has been farmed continuously for more than 150 years. Purchased by the town in 1970, the Farm’s mission has expanded from the raising of livestock and growing of produce to include the education of consumers about sustainable farming and best management practices.

After hearing about the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Solarize Mass Plus program, Farm Manager Pete Lowy and the Codman Farm Board were eager to participate. Solarize Mass Plus program offered Codman the opportunity to bring energy consumption into their sustainable vision.

In February 2017, the community farm installed two solar hot water systems through the Solarize Mass Plus Lincoln-Sudbury-Wayland program. The Solarize Mass Plus program offers communities the option to campaign for solar electricity with additional clean energy technologies—solar hot water, air-source heat pumps, or electric vehicles. Lincoln-Sudbury-Wayland chose solar hot water as their additional clean energy technology. Solar hot water uses panels that absorb solar radiation and transfer it directly to hot water tanks.

Through selected installer, New England Solar Hot Water (NESHW), the farm installed a system of three hot water panels on the Farmer’s residence to provide domestic hot water. The farm also installed a second system of two hot water panels on Barn D that cover about 75% of the barn’s hot water needs. The primary purpose for this hot water is to wash about 300,000 eggs per year from the farm’s pasture fed chickens.

David Alperovitz, President of Codman Community Farms Board of Directors, says the “experience with the installer was great. [They] answered all questions and installed ahead of when they said they would.”

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has facilitated Solarize Mass programs since 2011. T

hrough the 2017 program, 15 solar PV systems were installed in Lincoln, increasing capacity by 107 kilowatts. 11 solar hot water systems were also installed. To learn more about how your community can get involved, please visit solarizemass.com.