[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/EW-03-05-14-Solar-Gardens.mp3|titles=EW 03-05-14 Solar Gardens]
Solar power is growing by leaps and bounds, but there are still many people who can’t access it for their own homes. Renters, people who live in communities with obstructive building codes, and people whose roofs are shaded by trees or other tall structures don’t have the option of installing their own solar panels.
Massachusetts is the latest state to offer community solar gardens to its residents. These are solar power installations that are the equivalent of community vegetable gardens. Individuals or other investors provide the funds. The power output of the farm is credited to the investors in proportion to their investment.
Clean Energy Collective, a developer from Colorado, is now building community solar gardens in Massachusetts that will make the benefits of solar power available to most of the state’s residents. Customers can purchase the output of one solar panel – or enough to offset all of their electric use.
Solar gardens make use of the virtual net metering concept, in which power is not really generated at the homeowner’s site, but they are credited by utilities as if it actually were. Solar garden participants receive all the same rebates and incentives as rooftop solar owners.
Clean Energy Collective has 14 megawatts of solar operating in 5 states, with another 40 megawatts under construction nationwide. These large community projects make it possible for nearly all electricity customers to go solar, whether their own residence makes it possible or not.
Novel financing schemes like solar gardens are helping to make green energy available to all.
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Clean Energy Collective Digs Into Solar Gardens in Massachusetts
Photo, taken on April 25, 2012, courtesy of Activ Solar via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.