There’s a new way to get solar energy into your home and it doesn’t involve installing solar panels on your roof. The first subscription-based solar array owned by Evergy went online earlier this year. There’s 22,000 panels on 67 acres near the Hawthorn Power Plant and it can power around 2,000 homes across the area. Evergy leaders say it’s a way customers can be a part of the company’s goal to go carbon-neutral by 2045.”We’re transitioning our traditional fuel based fleets into more renewable fleets and this is an example,” said Evergy Director of Products, Brian File. “The neat part of this example is customers are really helping push it forward. They signed up for this program that gave us the ability to build this 10 megawatt system.”The company began building the array last year and had in complete within seven months, after getting regulatory approval. Having it on the grounds of an existing power plant makes it much easier to get the electricity generated by the panels into the grid.”We have all this infrastructure already here,” said File. “It basically connects into there and sends the electrons out.”The subscription does add about $5 – $15 to your monthly bill, depending on usage. But by signing up, customers can lock in the current rate for the next two decades. That could mean big savings down the road if energy costs keep going up.”One of the benefits of this is that you can have this same price for 20 years that you own this solar array as it’s producing energy,” said File. “So it’s kind of a cost-hedge.”There’s been a lot of interest already with more than 1,200 customers signed up and Evergy is taking reservations for the next part of the subscription now. With more people signing up, the company says customers are helping them reach their renewable energy goals.”They’re really helping us in that transition,” said File. “It’s a partnership in some ways when you think about it. Customers and Evergy moving toward a new renewable grid.” The array on the site of the Hawthorn Power Plant is the largest subscription-based array in Missouri and Evergy may build more if demand remains high.”It really all depends,” said File. “As we continue to build this momentum of excitement about it, then we’ll find a new site that makes the best sense and do something similar.”If you’d like to learn more about this program, you can visit the Evergy website.
There’s a new way to get solar energy into your home and it doesn’t involve installing solar panels on your roof.
The first subscription-based solar array owned by Evergy went online earlier this year. There’s 22,000 panels on 67 acres near the Hawthorn Power Plant and it can power around 2,000 homes across the area.
Evergy leaders say it’s a way customers can be a part of the company’s goal to go carbon-neutral by 2045.
“We’re transitioning our traditional fuel based fleets into more renewable fleets and this is an example,” said Evergy Director of Products, Brian File. “The neat part of this example is customers are really helping push it forward. They signed up for this program that gave us the ability to build this 10 megawatt system.”
The company began building the array last year and had in complete within seven months, after getting regulatory approval. Having it on the grounds of an existing power plant makes it much easier to get the electricity generated by the panels into the grid.
“We have all this infrastructure already here,” said File. “It basically connects into there and sends the electrons out.”
The subscription does add about $5 – $15 to your monthly bill, depending on usage. But by signing up, customers can lock in the current rate for the next two decades. That could mean big savings down the road if energy costs keep going up.
“One of the benefits of this is that you can have this same price for 20 years that you own this solar array as it’s producing energy,” said File. “So it’s kind of a cost-hedge.”
There’s been a lot of interest already with more than 1,200 customers signed up and Evergy is taking reservations for the next part of the subscription now. With more people signing up, the company says customers are helping them reach their renewable energy goals.
“They’re really helping us in that transition,” said File. “It’s a partnership in some ways when you think about it. Customers and Evergy moving toward a new renewable grid.”
The array on the site of the Hawthorn Power Plant is the largest subscription-based array in Missouri and Evergy may build more if demand remains high.
“It really all depends,” said File. “As we continue to build this momentum of excitement about it, then we’ll find a new site that makes the best sense and do something similar.”
If you’d like to learn more about this program, you can visit the Evergy website.
