Solar Update: Cider Maker Goes Solar, Arizona School Builds Solar Carports

Woodchuck Cidery in Middlebury, Vt., is getting 10-15 percent of its power from a nearby solar farm, consisting of 26 solar trackers that produce 210,000 kWh per year. AllEarth Renewables based in Williston, Vt., makes the solar trackers. Woodchuck Cidery also participate in the Cow Power program run by Green Mountain Power in Vermont, which turns cow manure into energy. The cidery pays a premium of 25 percent for its power to help fund the program.

In other news, Constellation and the Somerton School District completed an aggregate 1.6 MW (DC) solar generation project in Yuma County, Ariz. Located at five sites – Desert Sonora Elementary School, Orange Grove Elementary School, Somerton Middle School, Tierra del Sol Elementary School and Valle del Encanto Learning Center – the installations are expected to collectively generate enough electricity to meet approximately 60 percent of the schools’ electricity needs. Constellation owns and maintains the solar systems. Somerton School District purchases the electricity generated by the solar panels from Constellation under a 20-year solar services agreement. The system is composed of about 6,600 PV panels located on 10 carports and eight shade structures and is expected to generate about 2.3 million kWh per year. The solar project was initially developed by Kennedy Partners and Smart Energy Capital, and built by CORE Construction. The installation was facilitated, in part, by the APS Renewable Energy Incentive Program.