How Can My Municipality Go Solar?

Posted on by Claire Siwulec
  Blog

How Can My Municipality Go Solar?

Renewable Energy Procurement |
By Claire Siwulec

Municipalities across the country are realizing energy savings and increased budgets by powering their facilities with inexpensive solar energy. Solar offers opportunities for municipalities to, utilize unused land, rooftops, and parking lots to house clean, low-cost energy that saves customers money and strengthens their budgets. 

At Sol, we work with a variety of municipal entities including townships, counties, and public schools. For our municipal customers, solar provides the opportunity for either a long-term investment with guaranteed pricing that can significantly reduce their electric bills, or a steady source of revenue through a lease of unused public space.

How Municipalities Can Go Solar

Municipalities have two options when going solar: a power purchase agreement (PPA) or a solar lease, a decision that will largely depend on policies and incentives within your state. With these options, achieving savings and revenue through solar energy no longer requires an upfront investment, and we’ll work with you to ensure that solar maximizes your needs. 

  • Power Purchase Agreement (PPA): A PPA functions similarly to your current electricity purchasing from your utility, but with the benefit of guaranteed and often cheaper pricing. In a PPA, Sol finances, constructs, owns, and maintains the solar energy system through its lifespan, while selling the energy to the customer at an agreed-upon fixed-rate ($/kWh) over a set period of time (typically 15-25 years). Given federal and state incentives, the electricity rate offered to customers in a PPA can be considerably lower than retail electricity prices. Because our customers do not need to finance the array, this offers customers day- one savings and a fixed-rate on power for years to come. Even if retail energy prices soar, your PPA rate for your solar energy stays exactly the same, also allowing municipalities to plan their energy budgets with no surprises. 
  • Solar Lease: In certain markets, customers with available land, roof, or parking lot space can lease out their space to Sol for a solar energy system. In this scenario, the customer/lessor receives an annual lease payment for the space, adding an instant stream of additional revenue. 

Sol offers a variety of customized options for municipality customers to maximize the benefits of solar energy.  

Sol is a national leader in the municipality sector with over 850 MW of solar deployed, valued at over $1 billion and counting. We work with our municipal customers to promise the best results, providing clean energy and vast savings that benefit your community and the environment. A contract with us ensures: 

    • Sol provides long-term ownership and asset management of the project  
    • No upfront capital expenditure 
    • Locked-in electricity costs or a steady stream of new lease revenue 
    • The opportunity for local economic development and job creation 

Selected Work

Lexington, NE – PPA/Development

  • Total System Capacity: 3.9MW-dc 
  • Term: 25 Years 
  • Production:7,171, 416 kWh in Year 1 or 168,929,527 kWh over the 25 Year Term 
  • Savings: $1,756,219 over the 25 Year Term 

DC Department of General Services - Solar Lease

  • Total System Capacity: 10.3 MW, 38 projects, 36 rooftops 2 carports
  • Production: 13,800 MWh per year 
  • Savings: $25 million in tax-payer savings  
  • Result: 140 temporary jobs created 

 

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