Solar Cannabis Co. Dispensary in Dartmouth MA

Solar Cannabis Co., Dartmouth’s first dispensary built from the ground up

Some dispensaries move into an old bank or a former storefront. Solar Cannabis Co. Dispensary in Dartmouth MA in Dartmouth did not. The shop at 493 Faunce Corner Road is a brand new building, built new just north of a Dunkin’ on Faunce Corner Road, and when it opened its doors in 2023 it became the very first recreational cannabis store in the town of Dartmouth.

If you live in North Dartmouth, study at UMass Dartmouth, or you are rolling along I-195 between Fall River and New Bedford, this is the stop right off the highway. Here is everything worth knowing before you go.

Open since March 2023

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission lists 493 Faunce Corner Road as an active, licensed adult-use cannabis retailer, open since March 6, 2023.

The party came a few weeks later. On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, Solar held a grand opening ceremony, and Dartmouth Week reported that CEO Edward Dow cut the ribbon himself. “We hope to be a good partner within the community,” Dow said that day. “We want to give back where we can and bring a service the town needs.”

The Torch, the UMass Dartmouth student newspaper, was there too. Its reporters described donuts and bagels for guests, free samples of non-infused chocolates and gummies, stickers and lighters, and the whole Dartmouth staff on hand. Dartmouth Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes spoke to the crowd after the ribbon cutting, and the paper said the mood was very positive, with the community excited to welcome another business to the area.

A long road to Faunce Corner

The Dartmouth store took a while to arrive, and that is part of its story. In May 2022, WBSM reported that the building was “rolling towards completion,” a plywood shell with a sign out front, rising just north of a new Dunkin’. The site sits inside the cannabis overlay district the town set up, and the Planning Board had approved the plans the year before.

The company had hoped to open in 2022. According to The Torch, the launch slipped because the state changed its rules for host community agreements, and the updated agreement needed review before the doors could open. Solar’s marketing and communications director, Derek Gould, told the paper the town had been very supportive and easy to work with.

Town leaders were glad to see it land. “We’re always looking for new businesses to come to town,” MacInnes told Dartmouth Week. “It helps with our tax base, it helps with employment… It helps us to build a better community, and it brings more people to Dartmouth, the gem of the South Coast.”

A beautiful building with a local team

Solar’s sales director, Tiffany Watkins, summed up what a new dispensary means for a town that never had one. “What’s great about having this come to the community is the removal of the stigma of cannabis,” she told Dartmouth Week. “It’s a beautiful building, providing jobs and providing structure for the community.”

Those jobs were meant to stay local. Dartmouth Week reported that the town’s agreement with Solar requires at least half of the store’s employees to live in Dartmouth, and Dow said most of the jobs would go to Dartmouth residents. So when you walk in, there is a good chance your budtender is a neighbor.

The store itself is built for flow. Solar describes the Dartmouth shop as new construction with five points of sale, a large floor plan made for quick ordering and pick-up, ample parking and easy access from Interstate 195.

¿Hablas español? No problem

Here is a detail that sets the Dartmouth shop apart. Solar says its Dartmouth dispensary has Spanish-speaking budtenders and staff, ready to help shoppers find the right products. The store’s page puts it simply: “¡Visítanos y descubre un lugar donde el idioma no es una barrera para disfrutar de cannabis de calidad!” In plain English: come visit a place where language is no barrier to enjoying quality cannabis. For the many Spanish-speaking families across Dartmouth and New Bedford, that makes a first visit a lot more comfortable.

Budtenders people remember by name

Reviews on Solar’s Dartmouth page keep coming back to the staff. One shopper wrote, “Great first time there. Jamaal was awesome too very kind and courteous.” Another said of her budtender, “It was my first time at this dispensary and he really knew his stuff.” A regular added that the team is “Always making you feel welcome and answering any and all questions honestly.”

Solar’s own FAQ says the staff love helping customers find the right product, whether you are brand new to cannabis or know exactly what you want, from understanding THC levels to comparing vape cartridges and edibles. Ask questions. That is what they are there for.

The Solar story, in short

Solar grows its own flower and sells it in its own stores. The Torch described the company as “completely vertically integrated,” and its About page says its cultivation facility is designed to make its own power on site and run off the grid. Solar’s stated mission is to provide “industry-leading marijuana and marijuana-infused products with a smaller energy footprint.” Dartmouth was the third of Solar’s Massachusetts adult-use shops, after Somerset and Seekonk, and Dartmouth Week noted that three is the most one company may run under state law.

What’s on the menu

Solar Dartmouth carries a full adult-use menu: flower, pre-rolls and blunts, vapes, concentrates and edibles, including Solar’s own sustainably grown flower, non-solvent concentrates, CO2 extracts and plant-based gummies. Menus change often, so check the Dartmouth menu online before you go, and look at the MA Specials page for current deals.

Label tips from the Solar blog

The Solar blog has a couple of guides that make reading a label much easier.

What TAC means. In a post on total active cannabinoids, Solar explains that “TAC stands for Total Active Cannabinoids,” the combined amount of all the cannabinoids in a product, not just THC. Labels often list THC, CBD and CBN separately, then give the TAC as a percentage or in milligrams per gram. The post’s best advice is to look at the balance, not just the big number, because “a higher TAC doesn’t guarantee the experience will be more intense or preferable.” Solar also says it offers lab information for the products in its stores, so ask if you want to see it.

Fresh or cured? Another post explains why “live” products are different. Fresh flower skips the long drying and curing that most flower goes through, so it keeps more moisture and brighter aromas, and it mostly goes into live resin and live rosin. Cured flower is dried and then cured for several weeks, which the blog says “develops richer flavors and aromas by allowing chlorophyll and other unwanted compounds to break down.” The result burns more evenly, which is why cured flower is the usual pick for smoking.

Order ahead and pick up

Short on time? Choose Dartmouth on Solar’s website to order ahead, then pick up at the store. With five points of sale and a floor plan built for pick-up, it is a quick stop on the way home.

Join the Insiders Club

Solar’s loyalty program is the Solar Insiders Club. You can sign up online, ask a budtender in the store, or download the Solar Insiders Club app from the Apple App Store. Solar says members earn 5% store cash back, get insiders-only promotions, early access to new product drops and 10% off Solar merchandise and accessories.

Plan your visit

Address. 493 Faunce Corner Road, Dartmouth, MA 02747. Solar says the store is on the right “directly after the Dunkin Donuts” as you head up Faunce Corner Road.

Getting there. From Fall River, take I-195 East to Exit 22 toward Faunce Corner Mall Road and North Dartmouth, keep left at the fork and follow the signs for Faunce Corner Road. From New Bedford, take I-195 West to Exit 22B, which merges onto Faunce Corner Road. Solar says the shop is about 10 minutes west of New Bedford and 15 minutes east of Fall River.

Hours. Sunday through Thursday, 8am to 9pm. Friday and Saturday, 8am to 10pm.

Phone. (774) 770-4400.

Parking. Solar says there is ample parking on site.

Payment. Solar’s FAQ says it takes cash or a debit card with a PIN, and has a cashless ATM on site. All sales are final.

Adults 21+. Solar Dartmouth is an adult-use dispensary, open to adults 21 and over with a valid government-issued ID. No medical card is needed.

Massachusetts cannabis basics

Here are the state rules from the Cannabis Control Commission:

Age. 21 or older, with a government-issued ID for every retail purchase.
Carrying. Up to two ounces in public.
At home. Up to 10 ounces, and anything over two ounces must be locked up.
Where to use it. Not in public places and not on federal land.
In the car. No open containers in the passenger area. Use a closed container in the trunk or a locked glove compartment, and never drive under the influence.
State lines. It is illegal to take cannabis out of Massachusetts, and it cannot be mailed. Dartmouth borders Westport, and Rhode Island is just beyond it, so keep your purchase on this side of the line.

Your first visit, step by step

Check the Dartmouth menu online. See what is in stock and what is on special.
Order ahead if you like. Pick up is quick with five points of sale.
Bring your ID and payment. A valid government ID showing you are 21 or older, plus cash or a debit card with a PIN.
Ask your budtender. English or Spanish, the team is happy to explain labels and TAC.
Join the Insiders Club. Start earning cash back on your first visit.

Make a day of it in Dartmouth

Dartmouth is a Bristol County town of 33,783 people (2020 census) on Buzzards Bay, and it is the third-largest town in Massachusetts by land area, after Plymouth and Middleborough. Its roots go back to the Old Dartmouth purchase of 1652, a deal with the Wampanoag that covered land now split among Dartmouth, New Bedford, Acushnet, Fairhaven and Westport. Dartmouth was incorporated in 1664.

History is everywhere. British troops raided the village of Padanaram in 1778. The whaling ship Ann Alexander was built at Russells Mills in 1805 and was famously rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in 1851. Up on Round Hill, MIT physicist Robert J. Van de Graaff built the world’s largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator in 1933, a machine now at the Museum of Science in Boston.

The Faunce Corner neighborhood around the store is part of the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve, which protects forest land through North Dartmouth’s Collins Corner, Faunce Corner and Hixville sections. Solar points visitors to Dartmouth Regional Park and Trails and the Acushnet Cedar Swamp Reservation nearby, and to the Buttonwood Park Zoo a few miles south. Hungry? Solar’s local picks include Riccardi’s Restaurant, Just Another Phoenix and The Symposium Family Dining.

Head south and the town turns coastal. The Lloyd Center for Environmental Studies in South Dartmouth runs programs about the local waters, right across the Slocums River from Demarest Lloyd State Park, a popular beach known for its shallow water. In summer, the Solar blog recommends the Wednesday night concert series at Apponagansett Park and homemade ice cream and waffle cones at Dockside Ice Cream in South Dartmouth. UMass Dartmouth, on Old Westport Road, has been in town since the 1960s.

Getting around is easy. I-195 and US 6 run side by side across the north of town from New Bedford to Westport, and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority runs buses between Dartmouth, New Bedford and Fall River.

Why Solar Cannabis Co. Dartmouth is worth the stop

A brand new building, the first dispensary in town, a team of local budtenders who speak English and Spanish, five points of sale for a fast trip and a spot about a mile off I-195: Solar Cannabis Co. Dartmouth makes it easy. Swing by Faunce Corner and say hi.

Cannabis is for adults 21 and over. Please consume responsibly.