So the annualized cost per kWh would equate to 12.9 cents/kWh. And with the seasonal monthly fees I explained above, I would have paid $223.50 for them. The analysis shows that a block of 10 panels would have produced 1736 kWh of electricity last year. Obviously your results may vary (and mine may, too). And, somewhat to my surprise, I would have SAVED $61 last year with the Virtual Solar program. They compared my actual consumption and billing history for the prior year with what it would have been on the Virtual Solar program. But, rather than letting that crude math deter me, I commissioned the annualized impact analysis Sawnee offers. Unfortunately, that December value would compute to over 24 cents/kWh. The May result would be 10.7 cents/kWh (which represents a savings compared to the range of 11-14 cents/kWh I experienced last year). For one block of 10 panels, that projected output ranges from a low of 63 kWh in December to a high of 204 kWh in May. In the “off season” (October-March), when the panels produce less, the monthly fee is discounted to $15.50/month.Īs the website points out, “nergy output will vary for reasons such as cloud coverage, the sun’s angle and time of year.” But they provide historic output from last year to enable a financial evaluation. At present (April-September), that fee for each block is $21.75/month. Instead, I’m paying a monthly fee for each block of 10 solar panels that help to power my house. Participating in this program also means that I don’t have to worry about maintenance nor any third-party finance arrangements.Īnd unlike some community solar programs, I don’t have to purchase the panels up-front, either. Virtual Solar is promoted as an alternative for customers who aren’t able to purchase and install their own solar systems - for instance, those who rent homes, have trees shading our property, or for those of us whose neighborhood covenants (currently) prohibit solar. So I was eager to explore this new program announced earlier this year (March 2018). For several years, I’ve been enrolled in their Green Power program, which produces electricity from landfill gas. CobbEMC.I’ve enrolled in the new Virtual Solar program offered by my utility in Georgia, Sawnee EMC. With more than 192,000 meters served, Cobb EMC is one of the largest of Georgia's 41 EMCs and among the largest of the nation's 900 EMCs. Cobb EMC's distribution system consists of 9,101 miles of line over 432 square miles. The facility is expected to consist of approximately 1.6 million thin-film PV solar modules mounted on single-axis tracking tables.Ĭonstruction of the project is scheduled to begin in September, and the project is expected to achieve commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2016.Ĭobb EMC is a not-for-profit electric cooperative, serving more than 175,000 residential and commercial members in Fulton, Cobb, Bartow, Cherokee and Paulding counties. The other portions of its output will be purchased by Flint Energies and Sawnee EMC, two other Georgia Electric Cooperatives. This solar facility, of which Cobb will receive 77 percent of its output, will be constructed in Taylor County on a 911-acre site, which is equivalent of 826 football fields for perspective. The solar facility in Taylor County will be the largest single-site project in Georgia and among the largest east of the Mississippi River. In 2014, we started receiving the full capacity output from the Azalea solar facility in Washington County, and with the addition of this project, Cobb EMC will be receiving approximately 10 percent of our capacity portfolio mix from solar and about 5 percent of the energy needed to serve our members." "Cobb EMC has been at the forefront of adding solar projects to our energy portfolio. "We're always looking for practical ways to diversify our energy mix and expand our renewable energy portfolio while still keeping costs as low as possible for our members," said Chip Nelson, president and CEO of Cobb EMC. Cobb EMC to Purchase 101 MW of Solar Energy from Southern PowerĬobb EMC board of directors announced approval for the cooperative to execute a 25-year power purchase agreement with Southern Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, to purchase 101 megawatts (MW) of solar energy from a 131-MW photovoltaic (PV) solar project to be constructed in Taylor County, Georgia.
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