SunShare has announced the commissioning of its Uncompahgre Community Solar Garden, Colorado’s largest community solar project to-date, totaling just over five megawatts DC. The Weld County-based solar array now generates clean, solar energy for 450 Colorado homes, the City of Westminster, and the Highlands Ranch Community Association.
It is the first five-megawatt project to be built after the 2019 Community Solar Gardens Modernization Act allowed for larger gardens and eliminated geographic restrictions for participation, enabling this garden to serve subscribers from 13 Colorado counties and 40 cities.
“It is exciting that 10 years after we created the first open-market community solar garden in Colorado, our 22nd Colorado solar garden is now the largest in our home state and serves more residents than any other community solar garden in Colorado’s history,” David Amster-Olszewski, SunShare’s CEO and Founder, said. “I couldn’t be more proud to energize this garden that is subscribed by my friends, neighbors, members of the SunShare team, and so many other Colorado residents who were previously unable to participate due to size and geographical restrictions.”
Subscribers will receive credits on their utility bills for energy generated by the garden, which was constructed by E Light Electric, a local Colorado contractor. SunShare will own and manage the community solar garden for its lifespan.
“E Light is so happy to be a part of this industry, and we are thrilled to do our part to keep Colorado green,” David Wright, President of E Light Electric, said. “We love the community solar concept, and the benefits it brings subscribers.”
Denver-based SunShare has developed more than 110 megawatts DC of community solar gardens and is the largest residential community solar subscriber in the U.S., having enrolled more than 13,000 residential subscribers in both Colorado and Minnesota.
The Uncompahgre Community Solar Garden kicks off additional community solar garden construction for SunShare and comes on the heels of the company winning 13 megawatts of capacity in Xcel Energy’s 2020 Solar*Rewards Community RFP and Standard Offer Program. At least seven additional megawatts of SunShare gardens are projected to come online mid-year 2021, serving another 1,200 residential homes, with construction on additional projects beginning later in the year.
— Solar Builder magazine
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