Perched at 9,200 feet in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, two community-shared solar arrays began producing clean, local power this week for residents and businesses of the historic ski town of Breckenridge, Colo. and surrounding Summit County.

Developed in tandem by Clean Energy Collective (CEC), the Breckenridge Sol Array and the Breckenridge Ullr Solar Array are the first and only community solar facilities in Summit County, Colo., and are the second and third community-owned projects to come online in Xcel Energy's young Solar*Rewards Community program.

The two 500 kW facilities-which the Town of Breckenridge named for Ullr, the Norse god of snow, and Sol, the god of sun-have the capacity to generate locally-made clean power for up to 200 Summit County electricity customers. The Ullr Array is completely sold out.

Residential, commercial, or non-profit customers can purchase 235-Watt panels in the Sol Array for $870 each, with a minimum of five panels up to as many as needed to completely power a home or business. Thanks to the Town of Breckenridge's enthusiastic support of the program, town residents and businesses will also receive a $0.10/Watt rebate.

"Today, Breckenridge and Summit County residents have access to affordable clean power and can feel good about how they're energy is generated," said Paul Spencer, CEC's founder and president.

Community solar serves utility ratepayers who want to use renewable energy but face unworkable barriers like shady roofs, they are renters, or lack the financial capability to build a full solar PV system on site.

Members receive all of the same rebates and incentives of home-sited systems, and receive credit for the power produced directly on their monthly utility bills. Community-shared solar facilities are sited and maintained to produce more energy for much longer, which delivers a significantly faster payback and better overall financial return than most other renewable energy solutions.

This marks the 12th community-owned solar array CEC has brought online in Colorado, representing nearly 5 MW of utility-scale projects. CEC is building a total of 11 community-owned solar gardens under the Xcel Solar*Rewards program, to serve Colorado customers in Boulder, Jefferson, Denver, Arapahoe and Summit Counties and the City of Aurora. CEC also has facilities operating or under construction in N.M., Minn. and VT.