Power-ful News! Altus Power Hits 1 Gigawatt of Solar Energy

Watt’s new at Altus Power? We’re celebrating a big achievement over here: Altus’s nationwide portfolio of assets has topped 1 gigawatt of solar energy.

Altus was already the largest commercial-scale provider of clean electric power, with more than 500 projects across 25 states — including Community Solar projects serving 25,000 subscribers across nine states — but now we’re one gigawatt strong.

So, what exactly is a gigawatt? A watt is a unit of power equal to one joule of work performed per second — and a kilowatt is 1,000 watts, a megawatt is 1 million watts, and a gigawatt is 1 billion watts.

Basically, a gigawatt is a ton of juice. It would take 103 offshore wind turbines, 294 utility-scale wind turbines, or more than 1.8 million photovoltaic panels to generate 1 gigawatt of power, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy.

In terms of horsepower, it would take more than 1.3 million horses to reach a gigawatt of power. And 1 gigawatt is also almost enough to send Doc Brown’s DeLorean through time in Back to the Future as he needed 1.21 gigawatts — not that time travel is on Altus Power’s agenda. Instead, we’re focusing on transitioning our energy needs to solar power.

“From our first operating asset in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to our most recent in Pueblo, Colorado, Altus Power has built a U.S. portfolio of scale, making us the leader in the transition to clean, electric power for enterprises and households nationwide,” says Altus Power CEO Gregg Felton. “I’m incredibly proud of our team as well as our trusted partners and clients who have helped us achieve this important milestone; we look forward to advancing our mission of powering a cleaner, brighter future.”

You, too, can be a part of that cleaner, brighter future. Altus Power’s Community Solar program lets U.S. homeowners and renters access the benefits of solar power — no upfront fees imposed, no equipment installed, no strings attached, and no hassles with cancellation.

Our solar projects supply communities with clean power, providing solar energy to supplement or even replace fossil fuel-based energy. Community Solar subscribers sign up for shares of Altus Power solar projects and receive solar credits that show up as discounts to the bottom line of their monthly utility bills. Subscribers pay Altus for those credits at a discount that ranges between 5% and 20%, depending on their locale.

If you’re ready to sign up for Community Solar, go to join.altuspower.com check your eligibility and begin the application. If you have any questions or want to know more, please feel free to reach out to us at hello@altuspower.com.

And in case you’re curious, 1,000 gigawatts — or one trillion watts — is called a terawatt, which sounds like a good goal for solar energy…