Denver Aggregate Data

• 129 solar companies in the Denver metro area, including 38 within city limits
• 6 manufacturing facilities throughout the solar supply chain in the metro area
• More than 14 MW of installed solar PV capacity in metro area
• More than 223 solar PV installations with a combined capacity of over 11.4 MW within the Denver city limits
• At least 35 solar installations within a 3 mile radius of the debate site
• Enough solar energy online in the Denver metro area to power over 2,500 homes

Colorado Aggregate Data

• More than 210 companies operating at 260 locations
• 11 total manufacturing facilities throughout the solar supply chain
• 2 new manufacturing facilities online since 2010
• 91 MW installed solar power in 2011, ranked 5^th in the U.S.
• 239 MW installed cumulative to date, ranked 4^th in the U.S.
• Enough solar energy online in Colorado to power over 43,000 homes
• 10,741 total solar photovoltaic installations
  View more Colorado solar facts>>

Additional Denver Solar Info

• From SEIA’s corporate solar report:
• Khol’s has 10 solar PV installations in the Denver metro area, generating over 1.1 MW of clean solar energy
• IKEA has a large 498 kW installation in the Denver area
• REI has 4 installations in the Denver area, totaling 277 kW
• From the Utility-Scale Database:
• Three separate installations totaling more than 8 MW are located at the Denver International Airport- giving the airport more solar capacity than any other airport in the US.  The project was developed by Denver’s Oak Leaf Energy Partners, and is operated by Constellation Energy.
• Manufacturing Facilities
• Denver is home to SMA Solar’s 180,000 square foot inverter manufacturing facility, where they employ 260.  German-based SMA is the largest inverter manufacturer in the world
• BIPV manufacturer Ascent Solar Technologies has a facility in Thornton with multiple production lines and 30 MW of capacity.  The thin-film manufacturer recently announced a shift in focus to solar smart phone and device chargers and has since seen rapid growth in market value.
• Other News
• Solarize Benefits Colorado- buying power of employees at local, state and federal offices is pooled to lower cost (up to 20%) of installing solar for those participating in the program.
• Xcel energy recently announced a Solar Gardens program that allows customers in the utility’s territory that can’t put solar on their home to buy or lease a portion of a common solar field.  The program has proved to be extremely popular.

Solar Companies Operating in Denver

From the National Solar Database.