Clean Energy Collective (CEC) has announced a new partnership with CPS Energy, bringing the first roofless community solar pilot project to San Antonio, Texas. CEC will develop a 1.2 MW (DC) solar PV facility, providing CPS Energy customers the opportunity to own local clean energy generation through CEC's Roofless Solar program.
"We are excited to partner with Clean Energy Collective to bring community solar to San Antonio, making solar power more affordable and accessible to our customers," said Raiford Smith, vice president corporate development and planning forCPS Energy."CEC's model is just one of several steps we are taking to broaden access to affordable solar-something our customers have been asking of us for some time. This is a great step toward achieving that goal."
Through CEC's Roofless Solar program, any residential, commercial, or non-profit electric customer in the CPS Energy service territory can purchase individual panels in the shared facility, as few as one panel or enough to completely offset their energy needs. Roofless Solar customers will receive credit for their power production directly on their monthly CPS Energy bills.
"CPS Energy's long-term strategy of providing additional options to the citizens of San Antonio for a broader adoption of solar power in the area is exciting for all of us," said Anita Ledbetter, executive director of Build San Antonio Green. "CPS Energy has been a strong partner in the past and we welcome CEC's Roofless Solar program as another example of our community's collaborative commitment to renewable energy."
CPS Energy's selection of CEC was a culmination of an exhaustive search and RFP process. CEC emerged as the only vendor truly qualified to address CPS Energy's comprehensive program requirements. This is the second Texas utility to integrate the CEC roofless solar solution in the past month, and CEC's 21st utility partner.
"It is great to partner with a progressive utility so enthusiastic about the immense potential of community solar," said CEC founder and CEO Paul Spencer. "CPS Energy has demonstrated its drive to be forward looking, and create value for its customers from emerging technologies like roofless solar."
CEC has identified sites within the CPS Energy territory for the project, which is expected to be completed later this year. The facility will incorporate single-axis tracker technology that follows the sun's path across the sky, maximizing solar exposure and power generation by as much as 15 percent over traditional fixed systems and providing participating customers more benefit than achievable by non-tracking rooftop solar. CEC is prioritizing the use of local resources for construction and EPC services. Panel pricing will be announced once details of the program are finalized.
