An assessment of the successes and shortcomings of government sponsored stand-alone photovoltaic projects in Massachusetts

Eighteen stand-alone photovoltaic projects developed and implemented under the Massachusetts Photovoltaic Utilization Program from 1986 through 1990 are examined. The projects were provided to a variety of government agencies for an assortment of applications including water pumping, security lighting, refrigeration, vehicle battery charging, education, and others. Most systems experienced problems, from design error to vandalism. The success of each system was found to be primarily due to the attitude and actions of the recipient agencies and local site managers in dealing with both normal and unexpected problems. The lessons learned from the Massachusetts experience can be applied by system and component designers as well as government project planners and agencies.