SunShare was selected in a competitive bidding process by Xcel Energy to develop six new community solar gardens totaling 12 MWdc and will be able to serve more than 2,500 residential households in the Denver metro area as well as additional municipal, governmental, and educational entities.
“We’re very proud that SunShare will be able to continue our mission of bringing community solar to residential customers. We look forward to building our first 100 percent residential community solar gardens in Colorado and appreciate Xcel Energy’s commitment to this program,” said David Amster-Olszewski, SunShare’s founder and CEO. “The entire concept of community solar was created to enable people who can’t install solar panels on their rooftops to have access to the benefits of solar power. Many developers across the country focus on obtaining commercial subscribers, but SunShare’s mission has always been to give more individual consumers powerful options for contributing to a healthier environment.”
Xcel Energy shows its path to 100 percent renewable generation by 2050
The six community solar gardens will service approximately 2,600 subscribers upon completion with construction expected to start in 2019. SunShare expects the individual solar gardens to be located in Jefferson County, Adams County, and Arapahoe County. SunShare has now completed more than 27 MW of community solar gardens in Colorado.
“We are pleased to be able to continue to bring our customers programs that meet their energy needs in a zero-carbon manner,” said Jerome Davis, regional vice president, Xcel Energy—Colorado. “The continued participation in these voluntary programs such as Renewable*Connect, Solar*Rewards, and Solar*Rewards Community shows Coloradans preference for reliable, clean, and low-cost energy that we are proud to deliver.”
SunShare has helped build the community solar programs in Colorado and Minnesota, the nation’s first and largest, both of which are part of Xcel Energy’s service area. Community solar gardens enable homeowners, renters, government organizations, and small businesses that may not otherwise have the ability to install solar panels on their home or building to participate in and benefit from renewable energy.
— Solar Builder magazine
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.