Solar Garden | Summit County Examines Landfill For Solar Array
“It’s one of Summit County Government’s goals to have a percentage of its energy to come from renewable energy,” County Commissioner Thomas Davidson said, also suggesting that many county residents are interested, but unable to invest because of renting, homeowner association or physical limitations.
“That was exactly what we were hoping for,” said Lynne Greene about commission members directing staff to look at land for the solar garden.
Greene, who is the energy programs manager at the High Country Conservation Center, has been tracking Xcel Energy’s progress in releasing guidelines for its Solar Rewards Community program. The program is being dialed in to align with Colorado law as outlined by the Public Utilities Commission. She expects the Xcel guidelines to be issued and applications for rebates to be accepted in mid-September.
Which is why she’s working to get a list of interested buyers, potential land on which the array will be placed and preliminary engineering work completed prior to when the application period opens.
“The more complete applications will rise to the surface,” said Eric Westerhoff of Breckenridge’s Innovative Energy.
Assistant county manager Thad Noll said the analysis of the landfill as a spot for the community array would be complete within a few weeks. The idea is to place the panels on landfill cells that are already filled – the land is flat, south-facing, open and cheap. But he’s not sure if the necessary three acres is available there.
In the meantime, Greene is still looking for folks interested in buying into the community array, including businesses. Big businesses, such as Vail Resorts,
Click here to view rest of article from original site
|
|
|
