Kyocera Solar, Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure (KSI) and SunCommon coordinately formed a Community Solar Array (CSA) Program in Vermont for consumers to cost-effectively participate in solar. Approximately 50 projects averaging 200kW each will enable consumers to virtually purchase about 13MW of solar power without installing individual rooftop systems.
SunCommon is one of Vermont’s largest residential solar companies heading project development, EPC and ongoing support. It cooperates with Kyocera, a leader of solar manufacturing, and KSI, an investment firm and principal sponsor, to establish the innovative programs for landowners within an electrical service territory to arrange to dedicate a portion of their property to generating clean energy. The CSA program works as a new “cash crop” helping farmers and Vermont landowners stay on their land. Each acre of solar panels generates enough electricity to power about 30 homes.
“With the help of Vermont’s supportive solar policies, we can offer Community Solar with no up-front purchase cost,” said SunCommon co-president Duane Peterson. “CSA participants simply sign up for the program for a monthly payment that’s actually less than their former power bill. It turns out that doing the right thing while saving money is a popular offering.”
Participants enroll to virtually purchase power generated by solar arrays within their service territories. Solar power is fed into the grid, and participants purchase an amount of grid power equal to that generated by the arrays. The partnership expects to construct 50 CSAs, with nearly a dozen online or expected to be operational by year-end and the remainder in 2016.
“This pioneering program combines mature aspects of the power and solar industries with innovation, and is the right opportunity to put our impact investors’ capital to work building clean energy,” said John Chaimanis, Managing Director of Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure. “SunCommon has put together an excellent program in Vermont and is a detail oriented community partner; combined with world-class solar power equipment and sophisticated financing, our capital is making a direct impact both for Vermont ratepayers and the global climate.”