Each 250-watt share of solar is currently estimated to produce between 18 and 38 kilowatt-hours of energy per month, depending on factors like weather conditions and time of year. A typical residential household uses approximately 1,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity each month.

Participating customers must have an Advanced Meter installed at their premises. LG&E and KU will install those meters at no additional cost.

Customers who subscribe 50 kW (200 shares) or more will be required to sign a five-year contract before their subscription is guaranteed. A customer cannot subscribe to more than 250 kW (1,000 shares) in a single solar array or 500 kW (2,000 shares) in total.

You can choose one or more shares based on your preference. There are currently two types of subscriptions, monthly and one-time.

Monthly fee of $5.55, per share of solar, with no start-up costs. The monthly fee is subject to change prospectively during the subscription period but would only do so if approved by the Kentucky Public Service Commission.

The monthly payment structure requires a 12-month commitment from the date the solar charges appear on a customer's bill.  If a customer leaves the program before the end of the 12-month period, the customer must pay the remainder of the monthly fees left to complete the original 12-month subscription. If a customer increases their number of shares during the original 12-month period, the 12-month commitment begins again at month one.

If a customer moves within the same service territory, their shares may be transferred to the new premise provided the customer notifies LG&E and KU of the transfer within 60 days of their move. If the customer does not transfer the shares within 60 days, the customer will be de-enrolled from the program.

One-time fee non-refundable Solar Capacity Charge of $799 per share which covers the cost of that share for 25 years. This option is ideal for customers who don’t want an ongoing monthly payment or for customers who want to “gift” their solar credits¹ to another in the same territory (LG&E or KU customer, e.g. family, friend, or local school, church or organization). LG&E and KU will send one-time customers an invoice for their one-time charge, and their shares will not be guaranteed until the Company has received payment in full.
 

¹ After the array section that contains subscribed shares begins to produce energy, start receiving credits.  Credits are also referenced as the following:  Bill Credits, Solar Energy Credits, and Solar Energy Offsets.

Participating customers are contributing directly to growing solar energy in Kentucky.

This type of program is ideal for customers who want to support local solar energy, but are unable to install it on their own property or for whom a private system may be too costly. It’s especially appealing for renters, those with properties predominantly in the shade and those who have deed restrictions.

The Solar Energy Credit represents the monetary value of the solar energy that will be generated based on your subscription. This credit will vary each month based on the actual amount of solar energy generated by the facility.

The Solar Share Energy Offset is a credit for the monetary value of the energy you (the customer) consumed in the same 15-minute interval that the solar energy is generated.

Learn more.

We are now accepting enrollments for the sixth, seventh and eighth sections of the array. The construction process will begin after each section is 100% subscribed.

Section #5 went live in July 2022.

Construction for both sections three and four are complete at the Solar Share Facility in Simpsonville, making them fully operational. Thanks to subscribers, development of the Solar Share site, which will consist of a total of eight 500-kilowatt sections, is now 50% complete.

More than 1,300 LG&E and KU residential customers, along with several business customers including Louisville-area non-profit Center for Women and Families, Louisville-based printing and fulfillment services company V.G. Reed & Sons, and the Campbellsville division of global industrial services company Ingersoll Rand, subscribed to sections three and four.

Construction of the second 500-kilowatt section in Simpsonville is complete. With the addition of the new 1,300 panel array, customers participating in the program are now helping produce a total of one megawatt of local solar energy here in the Bluegrass state ‒ with more room to grow. Kentucky Habitat for Humanity and Centre College were among the customers who subscribed to the second section.

Construction of the first 500-kilowatt section of LG&E and KU’s Solar Share Program began in early 2019 thanks to founding partner Ford Motor Company and other participating business and residential customers. The nearly 1,400 panel array became fully operational and began serving up solar energy for the Bluegrass in late July 2019.

The site, along Interstate 64 in the KU service territory near LG&E, is large enough to accommodate a four-megawatt solar field. The Solar Share facility will be built in eight 500-kilowatt sections, and each section represents 2,000 shares. The construction process will begin for each 500-kilowatt section after it is 100 percent subscribed.

Below is an aerial photo of the first array.

The four-board fence and new landscape buffers on the north and west side of the property along Conner Station Road blend with the surrounding area.

In addition to installing fencing and landscape buffers around the outside of the facility to blend it with the surrounding area, LG&E and KU are planning to use property within the solar site to establish a pollinator habitat, rich with native plants that create an environment that attracts and supports pollinators such as native bees, honey bees and monarch butterflies, which have experienced population declines over the last decade. Other benefits of pollinator habitats include beautifying the landscape, supporting grassland birds, reducing water runoff and soil erosion, reduced maintenance costs and educational opportunities.

LG&E and KU Solar Share participants can support local solar energy in Kentucky that helps power our community in more ways than one.

In addition to supporting renewable energy and meeting sustainability goals, participants can also "gift" their solar shares to another person, business, or nonprofit organization important to them. Once the solar share has been “gifted”, that selected recipient receives the credits generated from the solar production for the next 25 years. For customers who have renewable energy and corporate responsibility goals, but don’t have the time or up-front investment to install solar on their roof or on their site, Solar Share "gifting" is a great option.