PVREA, Silicon Ranch Corp. partner on solar-power farm in Kersey

KERSEY — Construction is underway on a 3.5-megawatt solar-power farm in the town of Kersey in Weld County.

The 30-acre Platte Valley Solar Farm at the northwest corner of County Road 55 and Latham Street will have more than 40,000 solar panels and will help serve more than 600 Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association customers.

Nashville, Tenn.-based Silicon Ranch Corp. will fund, own, operate and maintain the solar-power farm. PVREA, a rural electric cooperative serving more than 40,000 homes and businesses across three counties in Northern Colorado, will receive all the energy the solar-power farm produces at “cost-competitive rates” over the life of the contract, according to a prepared statement.

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Silicon Ranch has selected McCarthy Building Cos. Inc., to build the solar-power farm. San Diego-based McCarthy has an office in Denver and plans to hire local subcontractors and craftsmen to provide the bulk of on-site construction work for the project, which is expected to last approximately three months.

This is the fourth project developed by the PVREA and Silicon Ranch partnership. In December 2015, the pair commissioned two 4-megawatt facilities: Valley View Solar in Greeley and Skylark Solar near Severance, followed by a 2-megawatt expansion at the Skylark site. McCarthy served as the general contractor for each facility.

The project site is just south of the Platte Valley High School. Silicon Ranch and PVREA are partnering with the school to create educational opportunities for students to learn more about the role solar energy plays in a diversified energy mix.