South Carolina to launch big community solar program

South Carolina energy community solar-001

South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) is launching South Carolina’s largest community solar program (16 MWac), making solar generation available to electric customers who cannot, or do not wish to, install rooftop solar panels. Through the SCE&G Community Solar Program, residential customers and eligible nonresidential customers may now purchase or subscribe to solar panels at several solar facilities to be constructed within SCE&G’s service territory.  SCE&G is a regulated public utility engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity to approximately 713,000 customers in 24 counties in the central, southern and southwestern portions of South Carolina.

In exchange for the electricity produced by their panels, participants will receive credits on their monthly utility bills there by lowering their monthly expenses. The program is available to residential electric customers who own or rent their homes, and to schools, churches and municipalities.

“We often hear from customers who desire the cost savings and environmental benefits of solar energy, so we’re really proud to bring those advantages to even more customers,” said Danny Kassis, vice president of customer service and renewables for SCE&G. “For some customers, this program creates a pathway to solar energy where there wasn’t one before.”

Three takeaways from SEPA’s community solar report

SCE&G chose Clean Energy Collective (CEC), a national leader in community solar programs, and their RooflessSolar product, to implement its program. SCE&G expects to interconnect the first two of three CEC-developed solar facilities by the end of this year.

Clean Energy Collective (CEC) pioneered the model of delivering clean power-generation through medium-scale solar PV facilities accessible to all utility customers, and today is the nation’s leading developer of community solar solutions. Since establishing the country’s first community-owned solar array near El Jebel, Colorado in 2010, CEC has built, or has under development, more than 175 RooflessSolar™ projects with 32 utility partners across 15 states, serving thousands of customers, and representing more than 400 MW of community solar capacity.

As part of their community solar solution – Community Solar Platform- CEC will facilitate customer enrollment and provide monitoring and production tracking services. The solar facilities will use panels that track the sun’s path across the sky, increasing power generation up to 20 percent more than traditional fixed or rooftop systems. SCE&G is responsible for all maintenance of the sites.

— Solar Builder magazine

[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/news/south-carolina-to-launch-big-community-solar-program/]


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