This solar farm almost stalled – Microsoft suppliers helped save it

A group of Microsoft suppliers just helped push a small solar farm over the finish line in North Carolina – and it shows how corporate buyers can band together and boost projects that might otherwise stall.

A small solar farm with a big hurdle

Clean energy marketplace Ever.green says a 5-megawatt (MW) solar project called Baron is now online in Anson County, 45 miles southeast of Charlotte. Headwater Energy will develop, own, and operate the project.

Here’s what’s notable about Baron: Instead of one big corporate buyer stepping in, a group of Microsoft suppliers signed long-term contracts for renewable energy certificates (RECs) tied to the solar farm. That group includes Slalom Consulting, Centific Technologies, ImagiCorps, BDA, Eleven 11 Solutions, TASA Analytics, and Visionet Systems.

Those commitments helped the project reach financial close – a key hurdle that often trips up smaller solar developments.