W
hen golfers visit Laurel Lane Country Club in West Kingston, R.I. they will not only enjoy a challenging layout they will be playing at what owner Joe Videtta believes is the only totally solar powered golf club in New England, and maybe the Northeast.
Videtta, who owns the course with his brother Mike, installed a solar farm on about an acre of property the course sits on. The farm, which houses 14 solar arrays near the course’s eighth, ninth and 11th holes, were purchased from All Earth Renewables, a Vermont-based firm, and installed by general contractor Anthony Barrow. The units came on line last fall and power the entire golf course, from the pump station that controls irrigation to the clubhouse.
“Laurel Lane is located on about 180 acres, so it was an ideal location to install a solar farm,” said Joe Videtta, who also owns Country Club and Country View Golf Club in Rhode Island and Pine Ridge Country Club in Massachusetts. “We already had an electrical source near the pump station, which cut down on the total cost,” which was half a million dollars.
The cost of the solar farm will be offset somewhat by Federal tax credits, depreciation, and a Rhode Island program that allows for the owner of a property to finance 100 percent of such a project.
“We really wanted to do something different because we hope to remain in business a long time,” said Videtta. “Electricity is a major cost that we have no control over and we wanted to do something about that. I started to see more and more solar panels on houses and I said why can’t we do something like that on a golf course. The solar farm actually overproduces electricity and we get a credit against the demand side of the electricity bill.”
West Kingston, RI
One unique aspect of the solar panels is that they are not fixed but can rotate to follow the sun. Videtta said this type of farm is between 30 to 40 percent more efficient than fixed solar panel arrays. The field is about 40,000 square feet in size. “We had to change the location of the eighth tee to accommodate the farm.”
Videtta commented, “We are saving on our energy costs and the system is warranted for 25 years. Everyone thinks it is very cool and when they know that ownership if doing something with the environment in mind that are pleased. In fact, I have had golfers come up to tell me how happy they are that we did this.”
The project has been so successful that Videtta Golf Management is even more committed to changing the way we receive our energy. Plans are for a solar farm to be set up at Country View Golf Club in Harrisville.
“We are already planning for Country View,” said Videtta. “We are excited about bringing that course on line with solar power as well.”
For more information about Videtta Golf Management or any of its
courses (all members of Golfing Magazine’s Course Play Stimulus Program), visit
www.LaurelLaneCountryClub.com, or call 508-892-9188.
