Grappone Conference Center Goes Solar

 Steve Duprey of the Grappone Conference Center flips the switch  to tap into the utility grid as Taylor Caswell looks on. Photo: Grappone Conference Center

Steve Duprey, owner, operator of the Grappone Conference Center in Concord officially flipped the switch on the center's new solar array, making it the largest business in Concord to go solar.

The solar energy system has been engineered for 40 or more years of operation and will offset about 2,280 tons of CO2 emissions during the first 25 years of operations. Each year, the solar electricity produced at the Grappone Conference Center will be enough to power approximately 23 homes. “We believe as a business its our responsibility to continue to go green and become more and more environmentally friendly,” says Duprey. “At the same time we are controlling our energy costs and generating our own clean electricity onsite.”

“The Grappone Center serves as an essential driver of economic development in the Greater Concord area, generating jobs and attracting thousands of visitors to the region each year,” says Taylor Caswell, executive director of the NH Community Development Finance Authority, which funded the project. “As opposed to paying for electricity generated by expensive fossil fuels from out of state, the Grappone Center will now produce much of its electricity from a free, local source, and as a result will be able to generate an even greater economic benefit for Concord’s economy."

The solar array is th elitist green initiative initiated by the center, which is also the first hotel in North America to grow all its own organic salad greens on premises. Its “farm” is 40 feet in length by 8 feet wide and 12 feet tall and is made of a recycled, insulated freight container and developed by Freight Farm, a Boston-based start-up. The Conference Center grows lettuce, kale, spinach, arugula, basil, oregano and sprouts. The container is equipped with LED lighting and technology that automatically waters and feeds the plants.

CDFA’s Clean Energy Fund provides technical and financial resources for economically-justified projects that increase efficiency and reduce costs in the generation and utilization of energy. Financing products are available for businesses, non-profits and municipalities. Eligible technologies include audited energy efficiency work and renewable energy projects including biomass, thermal and solar panels.