Wayland DPW board approves landfill solar feasibility study

WAYLAND — September 25, 2024 — Wayland DPW board greenlights study of 262-kW solar array on capped landfill. The Board of Public Works voted unanimously Wednesday to let Sustainability Manager Abby Schuett and Solect Energy's Byron Woodman advance designs for a roughly $318,000 kWh-per-year array between the DPW building and transfer station, alongside a new town-wide ground-mounted solar bylaw. A 2022 model projected a net town benefit of $860,000 to $900,000 over a 25-year term — about $40,000 annually — though Chair George Uveges questioned whether the return justifies the capital cost. The non-penetrating installation uses concrete blocks atop the landfill cap. Separately, DPW Director Tom Holder said the emergency MWRA connection ran 50 days this summer, drawing 18.5 million gallons at a cost of roughly $95,000, while Kleinfelder engineers laid out full-MWRA versus hybrid supply options ahead of an Oct. 15 decision. "This isn't a rush job, this is a do it right job," Schuett said.