Summit Ridge Energy held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate completion of the nation's largest rooftop community solar project.
The 9.2 MW solar project, operated by SRE and jointly owned with Annapolis-based climate investment firm Hannon Armstrong, is located in Carroll County, Maryland on a large commercial warehouse owned by STAG Industrial. Black Bear Energy facilitated the partnership between SRE and STAG while Powerflex provided engineering, procurement and construction services for the project.
Once operational, the community solar project will provide monthly energy savings to approximately 1,300 residential and small commercial customers located across the state.
This is a marquee project for Summit Ridge, our capital partners at Hannon Armstrong and the entire community solar industry. Leveraging 23 acres of largely unused roof space to generate energy savings for thousands of Marylanders is precisely the direction our nation's energy generation strategy needs to head."
Steve Raeder, CEO, Summit Ridge
"This solar project resulting from the partnership of Summit Ridge Energy and STAG Industrial is an excellent example in alignment with Governor Hogan's roadmap of deploying renewable energy on available rooftop or brownfield space," said Dr. Mary Beth Tung, Director of the Maryland Energy Administration. "Clean energy from this installation will benefit the local economy and create opportunities for a wide variety of organizations and residents."
SRE's rooftop community solar portfolio across the state has grown to over 75 MW's, enough to power nearly 11,000 homes. Nearly one-third of the projects will serve low-to-moderate income ("LMI") customers, highlighting the industry's unique ability to provide renewable energy savings to Americans of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
The recent expansion of Maryland's Community Solar Pilot Program is evidence of community solar's rapid growth within the broader renewable energy space, as is Department of Energy's October announcement of a National Community Solar Partnership target of 26 GW by 2025, enough to power the equivalent of five million homes and create $1 billion in annual energy savings.
About Summit Ridge Energy
Summit Ridge Energy is the country's leading owner-operator of community solar assets. Through dedicated funding platforms, the team acquires pre-operational projects within the rapidly growing solar energy and battery storage sectors.