Welcome!

This page outlines plans as they develop for a new solar array in the southern part of Jericho in the area of Skunk Hollow Road. As of March 2023 we are currently exploring the concept and beginning the site-selection phase. Keep scrolling for more info.

About Us

The project is owned and run by Peter Ehrlich & Sarah King. We live on Saxon Lane off of Skunk Hollow road. Peter is a Software Engineer and is working towards Net Zero for himself and his community through Zero Percent Club. Sarah is a math interventionist at Cambridge Elementary, an avid fiddler, and fifth generation Vermonter.

In the process of decarbonizing our lives, we’ve found that there just is not enough south-facing roof space on our house to offset our electric usage. Meanwhile, the New England electric grid runs typically around 50% Fossil Fuels, and every bit of additional solar makes a difference. So we’re going the extra mile to bring funding, landowners, and developers together for a local solar array.

Principles

It is important for us that the Skunk Hollow Solar array be built with local community top-of-mind. We are excited about the prospect of affordable clean energy, and hope you are too. An array of this size can serve about 17 houses, depending on their usage. The project is able to offer electric rates at a 5-10% discount to standard VEC rates. Many VEC customers would like to sign up, but we will give preferential access to Skunk Hollow road and Jericho residents.

Project Phases

1. Site Selection: work with neighbors to find a site which is preferred by all. This requires about 1 acre of land which is not a wetland and has good south-facing sunlight without shade, and with electric access. The landowner will be compensated for a 20 year lease - typically paid up-front with option to extend.

2. Sign-ups. Before the project can begin construction, folks need to be signed up to purchase the power produced by the panels (sign-up here). Billing is still processed by Vermont Electric Co-op, but the funds go to the solar site instead, repaying the installation cost. Households, or “offtakers”, commit to purchasing a certain fraction of the power produced, based on their typical usage patterns averaged over the course of a year. This offsets a fraction or an entirety of their electric bill. Rates will be at a 5-10% discount from normal VEC rates.

3. Permitting & Construction: This takes about 18 months, with mandatory wait periods for permits & public comment. Go-live will be in 2024 or 2025.

Site Selection

A 150kW(AC) solar array takes about an acre of space when ground-mounted (most common), or (x) amount with bi-axial mounts (more rare).

There are many possible sites off of skunk hollow road - the question being more about if we as a community are interested in having this project, and if so, where.

Some possible speculative locations are indicated in light blue. This is for illustrative purposes only, to share an idea of how much space an acre of solar takes up, and where good locations are.

Contact

Comments or questions? Interested in leasing your land? We’d love to hear your rants and raves. 🙂 Get in touch with the Google Form.

F.A.Q.

Are there up-front costs as a subscriber? Or ongoing costs?

Nothing up-front. Although some solar installations have the consumers purchase their panels outright for an up-front cost, we have no up-front costs and maintain ownership of the panels. Note that standard Group Net Metering rules apply, as administered by VEC. This means that although your per-kWh rates will drop (green box below).

Where can I learn more about how all this works?

SunCommon’s work on Community Solar is good precedent. We are generally modeling the project and contracts on their work. You can visit some of their past projects within VEC and at large.

Doesn’t Jericho already have a solar array?

Yes - two actually! These projects are significantly larger (20-30x) and still is only enough to power a fraction of the town (780 households of 2000). Furthermore, as we transition to electric vehicles and heating, the state’s electric needs are expected to go up significantly (e.g. 1.8x by one rule of thumb).

Isn’t Vermont’s Energy already clean?

Sort of. It is true that a lot of our power comes from hydro, but there are some problems when looking a little more deeply into this. 1) this power comes from fixed term contracts, and results in funds going out of the state and out of the country rather than being invested locally. 2) As electric needs go up, the amount of hydro power stays exactly the same. Vermont will need more power, and have to get it from somewhere. 3) Vermont is competing with other New England states for green power. The more solar Vermont builds, the more clean power is available for all of New England (which is currently 40%-50% gas powered) and the more leverage we have in negotiating with hydro quebec.