PARTNER Q&A
megawatt (MW) solar array 2.7 of 400-acre grain, hay and cattle farm 12 ACRES 7,336 PANELS 4,000 mw HOURS ( mwh ) ANNUALLY
Agricultural Solar Project Provides Farms With Long-Term Financial Stability
The Fritz Family Farm has existed for more than three generations and more than 100 years. Currently co-owned by brother and sister Jeffery Fritz and Jessica Fritz Little, the farm, which produces barley, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, grass hay and corn, has sought to build an environmentally sustainable ethos. Now, with its latest foray into adding solar power to the farm’s “crop” portfolio, Jeffery and Jessica are carrying on that tradition handed down from generations before. Here’s how the Fritz Family Farm solar project came to be. What first got you interested in solar energy? We’ve always been interested in using solar energy to power the farm, including installing an array on the property that supplies most of the electricity. It’s in keeping with our long-standing commitment to run our property in an environmentally sensitive manner. Solar energy is just another way for us to prove our commitment. What made you decide to build a solar array and sell the power to an offtaker? First of all, we were inspired by the success of our onsite generation.
We saw the financial savings to our business and realized we could bring those savings to a wider audience with another solar array dedicated to selling the power to an outside source. Then it just became a matter of finding the expert partners to work with, and Standard Solar and WSSC Water fit the bill perfectly. How does the solar array affect your farm's finances? We’ve been farming for more than 100 years, and we’ve been able to weather the natural ebbs and flows of the market. But solar power provides us the opportunity to earn a steady income based on our own electricity- generating capabilities. It offers us an opportunity to do long-term planning in a way no other “crop” would do, so it provides stability in an industry that is often subject to the whims of Mother Nature. What other advantages does this solar array bring to the community? The benefits of this project are far- reaching. WSSC is located about 30 miles from our site. Our favorite part of this project is that this was low impact to the land. If the time ever comes to decommission the site in the future the land will be returned to its original state for other uses (including agricultural). ❂
Developer/Contractor Partners: Air Technologies LLC and Ogos Energy LLC
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