On December 21, 2020, Congress passed a $900 billion coronavirus relief package. Within this package was the extension of the federal investment tax credit (ITC). Prior to this, the ITC was set to roll back from 26 percent (26%) to 22 percent on January 1, 2021, and down to 10 percent on January 1, 2022. In Subtitle C, Section 148 of the almost six-thousand-page relief package, the 26 percent ITC rate was extended through December 31, 2022. The 22 percent ITC rate will take effect on January 1, 2023, and the 10 percent ITC rate will take effect on January 1, 2024. Photo Source: Solar Energy Industries Association  Basics The ITC allows homeowners and developers to apply the tax credit…
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Tegan Condon joined the Zapotec team, as a 2020 MassCEC intern. She is currently a LEAP student at Boston University (BU) and is working toward a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Tegan received her B.S. in Earth Science ('08) and an M.A. in Education ('12) from Harvard University. Tegan has diverse work experience. She has worked for a paleoclimate lab in Germany, for a Conversation Corp in Arizona, as a "Lead Sustainable Builder" in Alaska, as a nature counselor in Charleton, MA, and as an eighth-grade science teacher. Tegan's passion for the outdoors and working with her…
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Arti Gupta has joined Zapotec as a MASSCEC Clean Energy Intern. Arti has a strong background in nuclear energy. She had previously worked for four years as a Scientific Officer at the Department of Atomic Energy for the government of India. While working in the nuclear energy sector, Arti realized that even though nuclear energy is a source of clean-air energy, it is not an easily deployable sustainable energy source. Arti identifies nuclear projects as expensive projects with complex regulatory issues that face prolonged delays and shutdowns. Arti recognized the imminent need to implement sustainable energy sources and quit her…
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Zapotec Energy is excited to announce that Brandon Sweet has joined the team as a field service engineer. Brandon started working with Zapotec last fall and is working part-time until he completes his M.S. in Renewable Energy Engineering in May of 2020. Brandon completed his B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in May of 2010. After graduation, he pursued his interest in material science and worked at a glass and specialty materials manufacturing company, Schott North America. Here he learned much about the various uses of glass in modern society, such as fiber optics and solar photovoltaic…
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Maria French has joined Zapotec Energy's team of design engineers this winter, after completing her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. in Renewable Energy Engineering. Maria worked with Zapotec in the summer of 2019 through the MASSCEC's Clean Energy Internship Program. Zapotec is excited to have Maria return to the company as a full-time design engineer.   Maria graduated from Robert Morris University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2018. During her time at Robert Morris, Maria realized she wanted to be a part of the clean energy industry after graduation, so she decided to tailor…
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Niranjana Jagadeesan and Maria French have joined the Zapotec team this summer through the MassCEC’s Clean Energy Internship Program. Both students are currently pursuing a graduate degree in Renewable Energy Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), where they will concentrate their studies on solar energy. Niranjana Jagadeesan Niranjana earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cape Town in South Africa in 2016. Niranjana was first exposed to the renewable energy industry while working towards her master’s degree. She grew passionate about solar energy and its potential to help mitigate the negative…
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SEBANE brings industry, utility, and state reps together to identify issues in the interconnection process that stall solar projects On Tuesday, May 14, members of the solar industry, representatives from two major utilities, and State Representative Thomas Golden, the Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, gathered at Foley Hoag LLP to re-open the conversation about the Commonwealth’s distributed generation interconnection process. Over the last few years, the solar industry has identified interconnection to the electric grid as a major bottleneck to increasing the amount of installed solar capacity in Massachusetts. Utilities face dramatic increase in…
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In May of 2019, Zapotec Energy finished the installation of a solar canopy project in Waltham, MA. The solar canopy was installed in the parking lot adjacent to a newly constructed office building at 81 Wyman Street, operated by Hobbs Brook Management (HBM). Previously, the building's parking lot was uncovered and subject to the New England climate. But now, the 682kW solar canopy provides the current tenants of 81 Wyman with approximately 820,000 kWh of clean energy annually and all of the benefits of a covered parking lot. The 81 Wyman street project was led by Columbia Construction Company (CCC).  Zapotec's engineers…
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In November 2018, the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) installed a 228 kW solar energy canopy in the parking lot of its transportation hub in Framingham, MA.  The solar canopy covers the MWRTA’s fleet of buses that provide public transportation for 32 communities throughout the I-495/MetroWest corridor. Gerry Hartwell, Facilities Director of the MWRTA, wanted to have the solar energy system installed at the Framingham facility to compliment the site’s energy efficiency projects. “At the MWRTA, we are always looking for new green initiatives to go along with other energy projects we have already incorporated in…
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On September 26, 2018, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) finally issued its Order approving the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program, the new state solar incentive program that will replace SREC II Program and promote the next 1,600 MW of solar development. Although the Massachusetts solar industry is still waiting for the official launch of the SMART program on November 26, this Order provides critical clarifying points about the program’s implementation. The purpose of the 219-page Order is to direct the participating Distribution Companies, including Eversource, National Grid and Unitil, to modify their proposed tariff to fully comply with the…
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