Solar powered vehicle may be built here

From the Wiscasset Newspaper

If jobs can be created that will be good for the people, it will be good for Wiscasset and will be good for the state of Maine. Arthur Faucher Wiscasset Town Manager

There was a lot of excitement at Wiscassets town office Friday morning for the demonstration of a solar powered vehicle made by Kronosport the result of a partnership with the state, town, Chewonki Foundation, Kronosport Inc., Chaplin Designs, and Custom Composites.

Kronosport president Edward Kron said if the company gets enough orders for the vehicles, they may be manufactured here. Kron, who traveled to Maine from his companys headquarters in Philadelphia for the event said, Today we have the solarized version of the Kronosport. If we get enough orders for these cars, we will create a new Kronosport in Maine.

Kronosport designs and manufactures vehicles for transporting people and equipment around urban centers, gated communities, resorts, airports, parks, and stadiums. Last year Wiscasset approached the state Department of Economic and Community Development about a Community Development Block Grant to assist the Chewonki Foundation in the development and installation of solarized panels for the electric vehicle.

The solar powered vehicle costs about $10,500 to build and weighs about 500 pounds. The optimum speed is 12 miles per hour faster speeds deplete the energy supply more quickly, although if the sun is out, power is continuously stored.

During the unveiling ceremony of the vehicle, Town Manager Arthur Faucher presented Kron with a copy of a map of Wiscassets Point East i-park (industrial park) for a possible location.

We will take a look at your i-park, Kron said.

We (Wiscasset) want to let our neighbors know that we want to be part of the life of Kronosport, Faucher said. This desire is going to be extremely competitive and it can take a long time for a project to materialize.

But besides the need for location, labor and investment, the finest audience for economic development is still to have the right people with a progressive attitude, and good work ethic, Faucher said.

State Commissioner of Economic and Community Development John Richardson said, Through the persistence of this team we have improved the technology of this vehicle to offer alterative transportation in an environmentally friendly fashion.

Introducing Peter Arnold from the Chewonki Foundation, Faucher said, I am going to introduce to you a man who is not only dedicated to a mission statement, he is probably the only person I have ever met who is the mission statement. Arnold heads the Chewonki Foundations renewable energy program and is slowly weaning the facility from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources.

This solar powered vehicle is a small step toward energy independence, Arnold said.

Steve Hassett, President of Custom Composite Technologies in Bath, who is currently renting the former Ames Supply building in Wiscasset, built the carbon fiber rooftop the solar panels are mounted on. He said he is proud to be part of the renewable energy project.

Faucher said, If jobs can be created that will be good for the people, and what is good for the people will be good for Wiscasset and what will be good for Wiscasset will be good for the state of Maine. This is the kind of machine that should be built in this community.

Following the meeting, Kron gave the town officials and guests a ride. One person observing the vehicle as a car of the future compared it to what a farmer must have been thinking the first time he saw a gasoline powered buggy.

Other guests included Don Hudson, President of Chewonki Foundation; Bart Chapin, Trustee Chewonki Foundation; and Noble Smith, New England sales representative for Kronosport who said, I see a bright future for this type of vehicle in Maine.