Midwest Energy

COLBY — Midwest Energy announced this week that Kansas’ first community solar array, located in Colby, sold out this week.

“We’re pleased that such a wide variety of our customer-owners chose to participate in this array,” said Earnie Lehman, president and general manager at Midwest Energy. “We have learned a lot about the characteristics of solar and solar production from this project.”

The 3,960-panel array features a single-axis tracker that tilts rows of panels, following the sun as it moves from east to west. The array has a capacity of 1 megawatt (AC), and was constructed on an 8-acre parcel owned by the cooperative just north of Colby.  The array is individually owned by 134 Midwest Energy customers, who receive monthly credits on their residential, commercial, oil, irrigation and ag accounts.

Midwest Energy’s partner in the project, Clean Energy Collective, of Louisville, Colo., built and marketed the array, which entered service in February 2015. The array is Kansas’ first community solar array, and remains the largest solar array in the state.