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TRURO — A 39-acre swath of the Noons property in North Truro could become a solar farm by the end of 2027.
The Boston-based solar energy company NextGrid has been talking with the current owner of the property, Linda Noons-Rose, since 2019 and now intends to buy a 17-acre parcel at 9 Noons Drive and a nearly 22-acre portion of an even larger lot at 2 Sand Pit Road.
The company is seeking permits that would allow it to begin building the solar farm by the end of this year, said Daniel Serber, senior director of land development at NextGrid. The sale would become final once the permits are issued; Neither Serber or Noons-Rose would say what the sale price for the land would be.
Although the layout is still being finalized, about 16.6 of the 39 acres are expected to be occupied by panels, according to Melinda Costello of Weston & Sampson, which is doing engineering work for NextGrid. The planned array will have about 14,000 panels, each 7.5 feet tall and 3.75 feet wide.
That array would be able to produce 7.7 megawatts of electricity, making it among the largest solar farms on the Cape. Local residents would be able to subscribe to the farm through a community solar program and receive a discount on their energy bills, Serber said.
Serber was less clear about whether the solar farm might be able to power Truro’s energy grid in the event of a region-wide blackout such as the one caused by the February blizzard, which put homes here in the dark for as many as five days. “Eversource does have the ability to take control of our emergency systems any time they declare an emergency,” Serber said at an online community outreach meeting on March 5.
William Hinkle, a spokesman for Eversource, said his company would need to study the matter. “There’s the potential to evaluate to see if there are certain ways it can interact with the existing microgrid” that is connected to the company’s battery system in Provincetown, Hinkle told the Independent.
Eversource received a $19.5-million federal grant in 2024 for an Outer Cape Microgrid Optimization Project that could help create an electric grid that would function during a regional blackout, but that money has not yet been distributed to the company, Hinkle said.
NextGrid still needs at least two local approvals before construction of the solar farm can begin: clearance from the Cape Cod Commission as a “development of regional impact” and permits from Truro’s planning board.
Family Property
John Shope, an abutter, told the Independent that the sandpit that NextGrid aims to buy has beautiful views of the bay and includes some adjacent woodlands.
Noons-Rose declined to speak to the Independent about the proposed project or about the history of her family’s property.
According to a 1953 notice in the Provincetown Advocate, Noons-Rose’s great-grandfather, Joseph K. Noons (originally Joaquim Nunes), was born in the Portuguese Azores in 1875 and arrived in North Truro in 1891 when he was about 16 years old.
Joseph began buying land in 1903, according to a 2019 article in the trucking trade magazine Wheels of Time. His son John F. Noons and grandson Donald “Ducky” Noons expanded the family’s holdings to 69 acres, which they used to support several businesses, including clearing lots, hauling sand and soil, installing septic systems, and delivering asphalt for new roads.
A Horsley Witten Group report commissioned by Truro in 2023 says that excavation of sand and soil at the site began in the 1950s, and that sand piles on the property were “occasionally” used for target practice. Fishermen also stored lobster traps, boats, and other gear there, the report says.
At a March 12 community outreach event at the Truro library, Serber said that the Truro Fire Dept. had also practiced on the property.
The select board and town staff toured the Noons property in May 2023 to consider buying it for the site of a new DPW facility. The select board voted to pursue a different site that June, but a $6-million debt exclusion measure was still placed on the town meeting warrant in May 2024 to buy 24 acres of land from the Noons family for other municipal projects, potentially including housing.
The purchase was voted down at town meeting.
Community Outreach
Abutters and community members who attended the March 12 event at the library seemed pleased, or at least comfortable, with the idea of a solar farm in North Truro.
“I hope this goes forward,” said climate action committee chair Lili Flanders.
“It’s definitely a good thing for Truro,” said Bob Higgins-Steele, who is vice chair of Truro’s energy committee and a member of the ad hoc building committee.
“If I can’t see it and I can’t hear it, I’m all for it,” Shope said.
Many of the questions were focused on the aesthetics of the farm and the noise involved in building and operating it. Serber said that while construction will be noisy, NextGrid plans to build a sound wall around the farm. “We don’t believe the battery really makes any noise, and the inverters don’t make noise at night, but this should cover any risk of sound pollution in this area completely,” he said.
The solar farm will include three 1,000-kilowatt lithium-ion phosphor batteries — about a tenth of the storage capacity at Eversource’s Battery Energy Storage System in Provincetown. Serber said NextGrid has elaborate fire suppression and emergency response plans.
The Noons property contains PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals” — which have been linked to several kinds of cancer. Serber said NextGrid will remove the PFAS contamination from the site and that the solar panels won’t contain PFAS or any other hazardous chemicals. There will be a wood and chain-link fence around the solar farm, but there will be large enough gaps in the fence that deer and other wildlife will be able to pass through, Serber said.
Benoit Allehaut, an alternate member of the climate action committee, asked Serber if it would be possible to have a public display in the school or library with live data from the solar farm.
“Those are fun,” Serber said. Some solar companies have deployed kid-friendly displays that show how many homes are being powered at any given moment by their panels, he said.
“I want a certain grandson to have a tour,” Allehaut replied.
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Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Local Journalism Project, News, Next Generation
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