The Rochester Planning Board unanimously approved the city of New Bedford's 10-acre solar farm project to be installed as early as next month on 20 acres near the Little Quittacas Pond reservoir in Rochester.

Jim Ricci, the city’s Superintendent of Water, said New Bedford representatives are hoping to reduce the city's municipal power costs by 30 percent with the installation.

Once built, the installation will be the city's largest solar farm, said Scott Durkee, Director of the city's Energy Office.

The installation will be built on land in Rochester that is already owned by the city of New Bedford. Once constructed, Rochester would not have access to the power, but would be paid $800,000 in lieu of taxes over a 20-year period. The city would also owe Rochester $150,000 in permitting fees.

New Bedford will install 14,000 solar panels, which are expected to produce 4.8 million kilowatt hours annually and have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years, Durkee said.

Durkee said the project's developers, Blue Wave Capital and Consolidated Edison, are aiming to start construction as soon as the 20-day appeal period is over. Once the appeal period is over, the developers can apply for a building permit.

"We're hoping to be finished with construction by August," Durkee said.

The board spent months reviewing the site plans, which drew some opposition from abutters who were concerned with the appearance of the solar farm if it was built, said Planning Board Chair Arnie Johnson.

“The biggest issue is to protect the town and the abutters,” Johnson said.

In an effort to appease abutters, Johnson said the developers will construct a 10-foot high berm around the installation and plant a number of trees and shrubs to block the abutters' view of the solar farm. The developers will spend $495,000 on the berm and $95,000 to plant the trees and shrubs.

“It would certainly help with noise and the aesthetics of the neighborhood,” Johnson said. “Also, after construction, there’s not a lot of on-site activity that takes place there so there shouldn’t be so much noise and traffic.”

No abutters were present at Tuesday's meeting.