GreenStar’s Solar Farm Is Up and Running!

By Kristie Snyder, GreenLeaf Editor

As the sun grows in strength this spring, it’s not just warming the soil and elevating our postwinter Vitamin D levels. GreenStar’s 130-kilowatt, remotely net-metered solar farm went online at about 2 pm on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Since then, the West Danby array has been steadily producing power. A lot of power — 14,174 kilowatt-hours (kWh) as of March 23 (in comparison, the average U.S. household uses about 10,000 kWh of power per year), representing over $1000 in electricity savings for the Co-op thus far.

Not bad for one of the cloudiest times of the year. It will only get better as summer weather arrives. The solar farm, installed by local solar contractor Renovus Solar on land leased from long-time GreenStar member-owners, is expected to generate 146,000 kWh of electricity per year. That amount, the equivalent to 108,136 pounds of coal burned, will offset nearly half of the electricity used annually at the Co-op’s warehouse/Central Kitchen/Space building, or around 12 percent of the electric needs of the entire West End campus. GreenStar is already reaping the benefits of lower utility bills, and the farm will pay itself off completely in 10 years. After that, the Co-op will simply enjoy the energy savings for the remainder of the system’s life, which could be up to 30 additional years.

GreenStar member-owners can track the solar farm’s electric production on the Co-op’s website, where a live interface shows total power yield, carbon dioxide offset, money saved, and real-time power produced. That page also features a bird’s-eye-view video of the site, which makes for fun viewing and gives a better sense of the scope of the project, which consists of 426 ground-mounted Canadian Solar 305-watt panels covering just over half an acre.

The largest solar array owned by a food co-op in the U.S., our solar farm has distinguished GreenStar as a national leader in renewable energy. General Manager Brandon Kane couldn’t be happier. “This is a huge demonstration of our co-op’s commitment to promoting the feasibility of renewable energy on a commercial level,” he said. “We’re so pleased to have helped shepherd this project to its completion.”