The California city spent years cultivating an urban forest for shade and cooling benefits, which now presents a unique challenge to tapping the area's solar potential. A new company has a solution.
To meet local demand for renewable energy, CleanPath Ventures plans to create a solar farm outside of the city limits, from which Davis homeowners can buy "garden plots" with their own photovoltaic panels. The system allows homeowners, who would otherwise need to install panels on their roofs, to keep their shade-making trees. Todd Woody notes that there are also economies of scale benefits that come with providing power from a centralized location.
Homeowners would even be able to keep their plot if they move within Davis, says Matt Cheney, founder of CleanPath ventures:
"If you moved down the block, you'd take the electricity production with you just like if you make an investment in a community garden, wherever you live you'll benefit from what's grown in the garden."
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