KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Utilities Board announced in March that construction on the city's first community solar array was complete. They said community solar enrollment was expected to open in April. On April 17, KUB officially launched the program and invited people to sign up for it.
The site sits on three acres of land at the Public Works Service Center and uses more than 2,000 panels to produce one megawatt of energy. KUB and Knoxville leaders have worked on the site for years.
KUB owns, operates and maintains the community solar array. Customers will be able to sign up for a portion of the array through a monthly subscription, and subscribers are credited for their portion of the renewable energy produced.
KUB said the project is meant to give people a chance to support local solar projects and increase access to solar energy. They also said it would produce enough energy to avoid around 964 metric tons of CO2e emissions or around 100,000 gallons of gasoline.
Customers can subscribe for $5 shares and per each share, they should receive around $3.61 in monthly credits. No equipment will be installed in customers' homes, and KUB said 2,100 shares are available. Customers will be able to buy multiple shares.
People will also be able to unsubscribe at any time. However, there will be a 12-month waiting period before they can re-enroll.
They held an event to celebrate the launch of the program.
"Community Solar is a unique opportunity. We build the solar panels and get them running. Then people can purchase panels, basically, and get the benefit of what they produce back on their bill," said Gabriel Bolas, the president of KUB. "We want to be sustainable whether it be our vehicles, our fleet, our operations, for our community. This is the first real opportunity for the community to help get greener with us."