Amicus Solar Cooperative member-owners believe in the mission of spreading renewable energy. They stand for quality, emphasizing customer service and long lasting solar installations.
Aegis Renewable Energy, one of Amicus Solar Cooperative’s 38 member-owners, is a family-owned business located in Vermont. They pride themselves on superior customer service, integrity and honesty. Their company works as a team and they all work together to accomplish their projects.
While many of Amicus Solar Cooperative’s member-owners are active in residential as well as the commercial markets, some of them specialize entirely on commercial installations. Aegis Renewable Energy is one such company. Since 2011, Aegis has installed multiple large-scale projects at farms, schools, ski areas, airports, manufacturing plants, and federal, state, and municipal facilities.
One example of the types of projects Aegis installs is Ayer’s Brook Goat Dairy in Randolph, Vermont. This project is the largest single roof-top solar array in Vermont. Ayer’s Brook Goat Dairy is the first demonstration goat farm in the country. It supplies local goats’ milk to Vermont Creamery, which produces artisanal hand crafted cheeses. Vermont Creamery has over 100 awards for their products and serves to develop the goat dairy industry in Vermont. The new 21,000 square foot barn is home to nearly 700 goats. Aegis provided the full turnkey installation, which was completed in the summer of 2014. Aegis designed a custom array frame to accommodate the barn’s unique structural framework and the high snow loads for the site.
Aegis has also installed solar arrays for the Town of Warren, Vermont. The Town of Warren hired Aegis to design, permit, procure and construct a 162 kW ground mount solar array located at The Warren Elementary School. The goal of this project is to reduce the town’s operating expenses and their carbon footprint while providing a powerful onsite example of applied renewable energy technology to be utilized in the school’s science curriculum. The project location was carefully analyzed by Aegis for energy production and designed to minimize impact to the site. Through this project, the town plans to be a model for other communities to emulate. Through the use of Group Net Metering, Warren will be offsetting 88% of their municipal electrical load. With the assistance of Aegis, the Town of Warren won a Vermont State CEDF (Clean Energy Development Fund) grant to help fund the project.
Aegis is also involved in community solar projects that are becoming increasingly popular for getting solar power to lower income and apartment-dwelling families. In 2014, Aegis installed the Boardman Hill Solar Farm, a community-owned 620 panel solar array located in West Rutland, Vermont that utilizes an innovative individual ownership concept developed by Aegis. The Boardman Hill project was a resounding success, eventually being honored with the designation of Community Renewable Energy Project of the Year by the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network. Aegis has since installed two additional community solar projects based on this same innovative model in 2015 – the Breezy Valley Community Solar Farm in St. George, VT and the Mad River Community Solar Farm in Waitsfield, VT.. The electricity generated by each of these projects help member-owners to substantially reduce their annual electric costs. In addition, the renewable energy credits (REC’s) associated with the array are retired, making this a truly “green” project.
Aegis attributes their success to their relationships with their customers. They work closely with each client to make sure they are completely satisfied with Aegis’ work. They listen to and take care of their customers, hearing and addressing their needs and concerns. In addition, they provide reliable and high quality work that is on time and on budget. All of these qualities mixed with Aegis’ values of integrity, superior customer service, teamwork, innovation, safety, and honesty, make for very happy customers!
Aegis has earned trust and praise by designing and installing systems that are efficient, reliable, and custom-engineered to their clients’ specifications. This is proven by the fact that 40 percent of Aegis’ business is from previous customers and another 30 percent is from their previous customer’s referrals. Amicus Solar Cooperative is fortunate to include Aegis Renewable Energy in its membership.