Premier Members Credit Union signed a contract to support Jack’s Solar Garden, a 1.2 megawatt solar array on North 95th Street in Longmont. The credit union’s subscription of 10% of Jack’s Solar Garden makes it the second largest commercial subscriber of Jack’s. Through this effort, Premier Members will pay for the generation of an estimated 247,000 kWh of renewable energy per year, and earn back solar credits on its electric bill through Xcel Energy.
Premier Members is projected to procure an estimated 1,235,000 kWh over the course of the initial contract, the equivalent of 873 metric tons of carbon, or removing 190 passenger vehicles from the road.
“Premier Members is proud to be an early supporter of Jack’s Solar Garden and is excited to see the positive impact on the planet and our community,” said Miles Hoffman, Senior Sustainability Specialist at Premier Members Credit Union. “Jack's Solar Garden is a unique, progressive approach to facilitating the transition to the clean energy economy.”
“Jack's Solar Garden is thrilled that Premier Members Credit Union decided to support our work by subscribing to 10% of our grid's capacity,” said Byron Kominek, owner of Jack’s Solar Garden. “The credit union’s support goes towards the ongoing upkeep of our solar array and further enables us to provide opportunities for the community to engage in our agrivoltaic research project.”
Agrivoltaics refers to the co-location of solar power and agricultural production. Through its research partners, Jack's Solar Garden will be able to measure and publish the cross-resource benefits of raised solar panels on farmland and water systems.