State's Largest Community Solar Garden Sending Electricity Across Colorado
PLATTEVILLE, Colo. (CBS4) - The largest community solar garden in Colorado is now generating electricity in northern Colorado but the power is going to 450 homes across Colorado. SunShare owns and operates the array which generates just more than 5 megawatts DC.
It's the first project of its size built after the state passed Community Solar Gardens Modernization Act in 2019. The act not only allows the larger solar gardens, it also lets people from all the state subscribe to the garden.
Residents in 13 counties and 40 cities are part of this solar community garden.
"It is exciting that 10 years after we created the first open-market solar garden in Colorado, our 22nd Colorado solar garden is now the largest in our home state and serves more residents than any other solar garden in Colorado's history," David Amster-Olszewski, SunShare's CEO and Founder said in a news release.
"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."
Those subscribers not only get the solar energy but also credit on their Xcel Energy utility bills.
Denver-based SunShare is the largest residential community solar subscriber in the United States with more than 13,000 residential subscribers in both Colorado and Minnesota. The company plans to bring on at least seven more gardens by the middle of the year to serve another 1,200 homes.