The project, funded in part through Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky program, will feature nearly 1,000 solar panels that are expected to generate enough electricity to meet all the power needs of the 30 residential and 15 commercial office units in the mixed-use development, with maybe a little left over.
Without $320,000 in Blue Sky funding, developers would have had enough money to build a system only half the size, said Jessica Norie, executive director of Artspace. Artspace operates five mixed-use properties in and around downtown Salt Lake City, including the Solar Gardens under construction at 400 W. 850 South.
The Solar Gardens system is one of 20 projects the electrical utility is funding this year, to the tune of a combined $1.8 million.
Since 2006, Rocky Mountain Power has supported more than 80 community-based, renewable-energy projects, said utility spokesman Jeff Hymas.
The utility’s president and CEO Richard Walje said the awards will enable funded groups to use a renewable resource to generate electricity and save money on their energy bills and reduce their environmental footprint while promoting awareness of renewable energy and how it works.
Although this year all the funding went to solar energy systems, initiatives that support production of wind, biomass, landfill gas, low-impact hydro- and geothermal energy also are eligible. Salt Lake Tribune
