Q: Coming from Douglasville to Dallas on Highway 92 leading to Ridge Road, there are about 200 silver panels in a field on the right, and I was just wondering what they are and what their purpose is.
—Eddie Webster, Douglasville
A: The panels are GreyStone Power Corp.'s solar farm at the corner of Ridge and Laird roads off Highway 92 in Paulding County.
GreyStone, a 120,000-member electric cooperative in eight counties west of Atlanta, installed the 4,256-panel solar farm last year, Vicki Harshbarger, a GreyStone spokeswoman, told Q&A on the News in an email.
The farm, known as Cooperative Solar, covers 6 acres. Residential members can purchase one or two solar “blocks” of 750 panels for $25 a month (per “block”).
“It’s solar energy without the hassles of rooftop solar, like holes in your roof, a lot of expense, or solar siting issues,” she wrote.
It also allows renters and homeowners with restrictive covenants to invest in solar power. Block owners receive energy credit on their monthly bills based on their portion’s output.
The farm generates about 2.04 million kilowatt-hours per year, and GreyStone operates and maintains the panels, she wrote.
More than 200 members are on a waiting list for the panels, which became operational in December, Harshbarger wrote.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column; Will Robinson contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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