The Grinnell

The Grinnell’s cooperative board wanted to offset their building’s electricity usage with solar photovoltaic (PV), but until recently, there was no way for each individual shareholder to reap individual financial benefits. Most co-ops and condos have separate electricity meters for common area and in-unit residential accounts, as was the case at The Grinnell. In the past, co-ops and condos could usually only use the electricity generated from the solar PV system to offset the common area consumption.

But with New York State’s commitment to renewable energy, policy changes allowed “community solar,” where power generated by a solar PV system gets sent to the utility grid in exchange for energy credits. Now, the power that the system produces at The Grinnell can be credited to both common area and individual residential meters, allowing each participating shareholder to receive financial benefits directly on their Con Edison bills. The 115 kilowatt (kW) system will offset approximately 40% of the building’s total electricity usage.

The Grinnell received recognition for its leadership in commitment to renewable energy at the 2019 Energy New York Awards (ENYA) organized by New York Energy Consumers Council (NYECC).