By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- A Potsdam developer plans to use solar power to light hundreds of new storage units on Elm Street, some of which he says will open in April or early May.

The initial 300 units at Ron Page’s Go Green Storage, 168 Elm St. will use solar panels to collect energy to run the lights, security cameras and gate, Page says. He is looking into Tesla Powerwalls to store solar-generated electricity, he says.

Page says he wants a spring opening to have the service available to students who will be leaving for the summer.

Page has set gravel roads and sand for the unit rows prior to pouring concrete in February or March.

“There’s plenty of room for expansion,” Page says. Beyond the first 300 5’-by-10’ and 10’-by-10’ units, Page says there is room for a total of 1,000 units.

Some of the units he plans for later will be climate-controlled to meet specialized needs, such as medical storage.

In addition, he says that the walls between two 10’-by-10’ units can be removed to make 10’-by-20’ storage spaces.

People will use their own locks on the units, and “for an added level of protection,” Page says, the entire development will be protected by a fence equipped with a gate that can be opened at any hour with a customer’s security code.

For the project, Page says he is acquiring as much of the material as he can locally.

“By shopping locally, I’m trying to keep jobs here and keep employers here,” he said.