Kiwi Energy Partners With Ampion to Offer Community Solar

Leading supplier of innovative energy and natural gas products, Kiwi Energy has joined forces with Ampion in order to offer community solar to New York customers that reside within the Ampion serviceable areas. With no upfront costs and absolutely nothing to install, the new partnership provides qualifying Kiwi Energy customers the option to subscribe to a solar farm and receive a discounted credit on their electricity bills.

When most people think of solar energy, the first image that likely comes to mind is of rooftop solar panels. However, for many households (and businesses alike), rooftop or residential solar is not a viable option, simply because they rent, live in multi-tenant buildings or have roofs that are unable to host a solar system. In fact, according to a 2008 study completed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), only 22% to 27% of residential rooftop area is suitable for hosting an on-site photovoltaic (PV) system after adjusting for structural, shading or ownership issues.

Thanks to a new program created by the State of New York, rooftop PV is no longer the only option homeowners, renters, and businesses have for going solar. Community solar expands everyone's access to solar energy. A solar farm is a simple way that people can benefit from solar energy without having to install panels on their roofs. A solar farm is a power plant whose electricity is generated by capturing energy from the sun. The electricity is then distributed via the utility grid. People can subscribe to a solar farm and receive a discounted credit on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced.

The entire process for customers to sign up is quite easy. Based on each household's annual electricity usage, Ampion will assign a share of a solar farm's total production. The solar farm will produce electricity on a customer's behalf and deliver it to the grid. Each subscriber will then receive dollar credits for the amount of electricity produced by "their share" of the solar farm. They will continue to receive a monthly bill from their utility company with their credits applied. Ampion will send an invoice for 90% of the value of the credits that were applied to the utility bill.

"We are looking forward to partnering with Ampion to be able to provide our New York customers access to solar energy who may have not previously had the option of going solar. Solar generation offsets more than 73 million metric tons of CO2 emissions each year. Community solar provides a convenient, efficient, and cost-effective way for people to reduce their environmental impact," said Richard Booth, President of Retail Operations of Kiwi Energy.