KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Knoxville Utilities Board is introducing a new way for the Knoxville area to access solar power.

KUB Community Solar, a partnership between KUB, the City of Knoxville, and TVA, is a subscription-based program to give the community access to solar power. It is expected to launch later this year.

According to KUB, this will allow homeowners, renters and businesses the opportunity to subscribe to a portion of a 1 megawatt section of linked solar panels. KUB invested $1.4 million to build the panels on City of Knoxville property just off I-40.   

“KUB Community Solar is the first of its kind for Knoxville, and we are honored to bring this option for locally generated solar energy to our community,” said Gabriel Bolas, KUB President and CEO. “KUB, along with our project partners, has been working hard to make this project a reality, and I am excited to kick off construction.”

Customers can subscribe for a monthly fee. Subscribers will receive a financial credit for the amount of renewable energy created by their share of the panels.

According to KUB, the solar array will generate 1.36 gigawatt hours of solar power annually, avoiding approximately 964 metric tons of CO2e emissions. That amount is equal to saving more than 100,000 gallons of gasoline.

“Creating local projects like this community solar array was a priority for the members of my Climate Council to meet our greenhouse emissions goals,” said Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon. “I’m happy we could partner with the KUB team to make this a reality, and we look forward to subscribing to support it.”  

For more information about KUB Community Solar or to complete an interest survey click here.