Disseminated on behalf of SolarBank Corporation
Solar Project to Light Up 850 Homes
NY Solar Farm Is Game-Changer for 850 Families (and Their Wallets)
SolarBank Corporation, a company that builds solar energy projects, announced on April 29, 2025 that it plans to develop a new solar farm in upstate New York.
This solar farm will have a capacity of 7.2 MW DC (7.2 megawatts of direct-current power). That is a measure of how much electricity the solar panels can produce at peak sunlight.
7.2 MW is a large amount of power – SolarBank estimates it could supply electricity to about 850 homes. The project is called the “Glor Rd” solar project, named after the road near its location. SolarBank has already secured a lease for the land and is conducting an interconnection study (which means they are checking how to connect the solar farm to the local electric grid).
This project is part of SolarBank’s growing pipeline of solar projects (the company says it has over one gigawatt of projects in development).
Who Is SolarBank Corporation?
SolarBank is a company focused on renewable energy projects like solar farms. It is a publicly traded company – meaning people can buy and sell its stock on various stock exchanges.
For example, it’s listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in the U.S. under the symbol “SUUN.” In Canada, it’s listed as “SUNN” (on the Cboe Canada exchange), and in Germany it’s listed as “GY2” on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Being publicly traded indicates that SolarBank’s finances and operations are open to investors and regulators, adding credibility to its announcements.
The 7.2 MW Community Solar Project
The Glor Rd project is planned as a community solar farm. Community solar means the solar farm’s electricity is shared by many local residents and businesses without each of them needing to install solar panels on their own roofs. Here’s how it works in simple terms:
- Solar Panels Feed the Grid: The solar panels (7.2 MW worth) will be installed on the ground at the site. When the sun shines, they generate clean electricity which flows into the local power grid, just like a power plant would.
- People Subscribe to the Solar Farm: Local homeowners, renters, or businesses can subscribe to a portion of this community solar project. They might sign up to get, say, a certain share of the power it produces.
- Bill Credits for Subscribers: In return, those subscribers receive credits on their utility electricity bills based on the solar power generated by their share of the farm. This means their monthly electric bill is reduced. They benefit from solar energy without having to install panels at home.
- 850 Homes Powered: The project’s output (7.2 MW) is expected to be enough to power roughly 850 average homes in New York.
How Will the Project Get Paid for Its Electricity?
New York has a special policy called VDER, which stands for “Value of Distributed Energy Resources.”
This policy defines how projects like community solar farms are compensated for the clean energy they send into the grid. Instead of a simple flat rate, VDER is a framework that assigns a value (or price) to the solar energy based on factors like the time of day, environmental benefits, and location on the grid.
In simpler terms, it’s the rate that the utility pays to the solar project for each unit of electricity produced.
- Initial Rate: SolarBank’s announcement says that under VDER, the project’s first-year average compensation is projected to be about $0.0971 per kWh (approximately 9.71 cents per kilowatt-hour). A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the standard unit of electricity on your bill – for example, running a 1000-watt appliance for one hour uses 1 kWh. So under VDER, the solar farm would earn about 10 cents for each kWh of solar power it sends to the grid in the first year.
- What This Means: This rate ($0.0971/kWh) is essentially the project’s revenue per unit of electricity. It combines the various “value stack” components of VDER (like energy value, capacity value, environmental value, etc.), but we can think of it simply as the price paid for solar electricity. Over time, the VDER rate can adjust (for example, it may change with market electricity prices or other factors), but this ~9.7¢/kWh is the expected average for year one. This provides the project a revenue stream once it’s operational, which is important for its financial viability.
State Incentives: The NYSERDA NY-Sun Program
To make projects like the Glor Rd solar farm financially feasible, New York State offers an incentive through NYSERDA’s NY-Sun Program.
(NYSERDA stands for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, a state agency that promotes renewable energy.)
SolarBank’s announcement indicates that the **Glor Rd project is expected to qualify for a one-time incentive payment of up to $0.245 per Watt (DC) of its capacity.
- How Much is $0.245/W? This means for each watt of solar panel installed, the project could get about 24.5 cents from the state as a grant or rebate. It sounds small per watt, but since this is a 7.2 MW (7,200,000 W) project, it could add up. For example, 7,200,000 W × $0.245/W = roughly $1.76 million in potential incentive funding. This money is given once, after the project is built, to help cover the upfront costs. It reduces the amount of private financing the company needs to raise.
- Is $0.245/W the current incentive? SolarBank is targeting up to $0.245/W, meaning that is the incentive level they aim to secure. New York’s solar incentive program has different components and tiers. In general, large upstate community solar projects can receive incentive payments on the order of a few tens of cents per watt. For instance, there is a “Prevailing Wage” incentive adder of $0.125/W for projects that pay workers fair wages, and additional incentives for projects serving low-to-moderate income customers.
- SolarBank’s $0.245/W figure likely reflects a combination of such available incentives. As of this announcement, $0.245/W is a realistic incentive rate for a project of this type in upstate New York. In fact, the company has cited the same figure in the press release, suggesting it’s based on the current NY-Sun program rates. (NYSERDA periodically updates incentive levels as funding blocks are used up, but there’s no indication that the $0.245/W rate is outdated as of April 2025.)
Bottom line: This state incentive is basically New York helping fund part of the solar farm. It’s a one-time infusion to make the project economically viable, complementing the ongoing VDER payments.
Without such incentives, many solar projects might not get built because the upfront costs are high.
Solar Simplified’s Role – Managing Community Solar Subscribers
Once the solar farm is built and producing power, SolarBank wants to make sure it’s fully subscribed (meaning all the available energy is spoken for by subscribers) and that subscribers are happy.
To handle this, SolarBank is partnering with a company called Solar Simplified. Solar Simplified’s job is to take care of all the customer-facing activities for the community solar project. In simple terms, Solar Simplified will:
- Find and Sign Up Subscribers: They will market the community solar offering to residents and businesses, sign people up, and handle customer enrollment. Solar Simplified is essentially a specialist in acquiring customers for community solar. In fact, they are described as “a leading national community solar aggregator,” which means they have experience connecting many people to solar farms
- They have partnerships with other solar developers as well, which adds to their credibility (for example, they partnered with Standard Solar in Maryland to manage subscriptions for multiple projects)
- Manage Billing and Customer Service: Once people are subscribed, Solar Simplified will manage the ongoing relationship – this includes sending out the solar credits, handling billing adjustments, answering customer questions, etc.
- Essentially, they make sure each subscriber reliably gets their discount on their normal utility bill every month, and they handle any issues.
- Ensure Full Subscription & Revenue: By taking on these tasks, Solar Simplified ensures the solar farm is fully subscribed and generating the expected revenue from day one. For SolarBank, this is great because it means they don’t have to worry about customer turnover or administrative hassles – an expert third-party is making sure the community solar program runs smoothly. Solar Simplified’s platform even guarantees that payments from subscribers are collected, removing financial uncertainty for the project
In summary, Solar Simplified is like the customer management arm for the community solar project, allowing SolarBank to focus on developing and building the solar farm itself.
This partnership is a common model in the industry and Solar Simplified is a credible player, as evidenced by its role in multiple projects and partnerships across different states
Next Steps and What to Watch For
The announcement makes it clear that while plans are in place, the Glor Rd solar project is still in development and certain steps need to be completed successfully before the solar farm becomes a reality.
Important next steps include:
- Grid Interconnection Approval: The project’s ongoing interconnection study needs to show that the local grid can accept the 7.2 MW of power, and the utility must approve the project’s connection. This is crucial – without it, the project cannot deliver power.
- Permitting: SolarBank will have to secure all required permits (for land use, construction, environmental compliance, etc.) from local and state authorities. This is a normal part of any development but can take time.
- Financing: Even with the NYSERDA incentive and the future VDER revenue, SolarBank likely needs additional financing or investment to cover construction costs. They will be working to arrange this funding before building starts.
- Community Solar Contract: The project may need to obtain a formal contract or registration to operate as a community solar provider under New York’s regulations. This would officially allow it to enroll subscribers and allocate bill credits.
The announcement also warns of risks: for instance, government policies or incentives could change, which might affect the project’s economics, and there are typical construction and development risks (like delays or cost overruns).
However, such warnings are standard for any project announcement and are there to remind investors and the public that plans are subject to change. If all goes well, SolarBank’s Glor Rd project will move through these steps, start construction, and eventually begin operation as a community solar farm.
At that point, hundreds of households could enjoy clean, renewable electricity and savings on their power bills, thanks to this project.
The broader community benefits from increased renewable energy and the local economic boost from the project’s development. SolarBank, on its side, will earn returns from the electricity sales (via the VDER payments) and will have expanded its renewable energy portfolio in New York.
In Plain Terms – Why Does This Matter?
To put it most simply: SolarBank is building a large solar panel farm in New York that will let regular people get cheaper solar power without installing their own panels.
The company announced the plan, highlighting that they have the land and are working through approvals. They explained how they’ll earn money (by selling solar power into the grid at about 10¢ per kWh under a state policy) and that they expect some funding help from New York State’s solar incentive program to get it built.
The solar farm should produce enough electricity for roughly 850 homes. Once it’s running, a specialist partner (Solar Simplified) will handle signing up households and making sure those people get their bill credits and savings.
Overall, the announcement shows SolarBank’s commitment to growing community solar – a model that makes solar energy more accessible to more people – and it provides concrete details on how this project will be realized and supported.
All of this was communicated in SolarBank’s April 29, 2025 press release, and the key facts have been verified against official sources and industry data in the explanation above.
Sources:
- SolarBank Corporation Press Release (April 29, 2025); New York State NY-Sun Program documentation
- Projected Renewable Energy Growth by 2030: https://www.sunpullwire.com/renewable-energy-by-2030
- Renewable Energy Resources and FAQs | Arevon: https://arevonenergy.com/resources/
- New York Community Solar Policies – Asset Owners & Developers | Perch Energy: https://www.perchenergy.com/blog/industry/new-york-community-solar-policy-legislation-asset-owners-developers
Disclaimer:
There are several risks associated with the development of the projects detailed in this report. The development of any project is subject to the continued availability of third-party financing arrangements for the project owners and the risks associated with the construction of a solar project. There is no certainty the projects disclosed in this report will be completed on schedule or that they will operate in accordance with their design capacity. In addition, governments may revise, reduce or eliminate incentives and policy support schemes for solar power, which could result in future projects no longer being economic.
There are several risks associated with the development of any data center. While SolarBank is expanding into the data center industry, it does not currently have any data center projects under development or that it has secured rights to. It is in discussions with various other parties regarding potential data center opportunities and will provide details in a future news release if an agreement to acquire or develop a data center is concluded. The development of any data center project is subject to identification of a suitable project site, receipt of required permits, entry into contracts for construction and the use of the data center, the availability of third-party financing arrangements for the Company and the risks associated with the construction of a data center. In addition, governments may revise, reduce or eliminate incentives and policy support schemes for renewable energy, which could result in future projects no longer being economic.
This report contains forward-looking information. Please refer to the SolarBank press releases entitled: “7.2 MW Glor Rd Solar Project in Development by SolarBank in New York” available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, for additional details on the statements, risks and assumptions.
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