National Grid marked the completion of three new Massachusetts solar facilities yesterday in Revere, Haverhill and Everett, making the company the largest owner of solar generation in New England.

When combined with the already-completed Whitinsville/Sutton, Massachusetts, installation the projects will generate a total of 3.4 MW of solar power.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony held at National Grid’s Revere solar site, which is capable of generating 0.75 MW of solar power through 2,640 solar panels, Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles said, "Clean energy is an integral component of the Patrick-Murray administration’s strategic investment in job creation, innovation and the state’s long-term economic growth. On behalf of the Administration, I applaud National Grid for taking a leadership role in developing five sites, including four former brownfield sites, for the generation of carbon-free solar energy. In making this investment, Grid is an important partner with the Commonwealth in our pursuit of a clean energy future.”

Also attending the Revere ribbon-cutting event, State Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Phil Giudice said, “I congratulate National Grid on this impressive solar installation. Visible at this site is the entire spectrum of our past and future energy infrastructure including fuel tanks, a wind turbine, and this solar facility. Massachusetts jobs were created in the development and manufacturing of the solar inverters, and Massachusetts jobs were created in the design and installation of this facility. Our clean energy future looks exactly like this -- Massachusetts firms and workers generating clean, renewable energy for Massachusetts consumers for years to come.”

Construction at the Revere solar facility began during the spring of 2010 with placement of the first panel in November 2010. The facility is capable of generating enough solar energy to power approximately 150 homes annually. The estimated cost of the project is approximately $5.4 million.

In October 2009, National Grid received approval from the Mass. Department of Public Utilities to design, build, own and operate five solar generation facilities that would yield approximately five megawatts of power. National Grid’s Whitinsville solar site, completed in June 2010, was the first utility-owned solar generation facility in service under the Commonwealth’s 2008 Green Communities Act, which allows utilities to own up to 50 megawatts of solar generation. The fifth solar site planned and approved for Dorchester near National Grid’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) rainbow tank is expected to come on line in early summer of 2011.