Nautilus Solar, a community solar specialist, grew its Maine portfolio by over 78 MW in 2024 and now has over 13,000 subscribers in the state.
Community solar specialist, Nautilus Solar Energy announced that fifteen of its projects reached commercial operation in Maine in 2024.
The projects added 78 MW to the company’s operational capacity in Maine, bringing the total to 160 MW. Nautilus Solar’s community solar portfolio in Maine now includes 28 operating solar facilities. Of its 13,700 Maine subscribers, over 285 are commercial and industrial customers, with the balance being residential rate payers.
“The growth of our Maine portfolio is more than just an expansion—it’s about making a greater economic impact in local communities,” said Jeffrey Cheng, CEO of Nautilus Solar. “Community solar plays a vital role in making the benefits of clean energy more accessible to local residents while directly contributing to Maine’s ambitious renewable energy goals.”
One of the recently commissioned projects is a 7 MW community solar facility in Sanford, Maine. According to the City of Sanford, the project was over 30 years in the making, because it is built on a site that was once home to CGA, a circuit board recycler. When the recycler left the property in the 1990s, large waste piles of circuit board scraps were left behind, along with tires, wood, metal, rubber, plastic, concrete and more.
The project illustrates how land contaminated by industrial use can be repurposed into an emissions-free and revenue-generating energy source that grows the local economy. Now fully operational, the Sanford community solar project provides clean, renewable energy to more than 960 subscribers.
Nautilus operates and manages solar farms in 10 states and is known for its portfolio acquisitions in leading markets. For example, Nautilus acquired up to twelve community solar projects in Minnesota totaling 16.8 MW. It reached an agreement to acquire a nine-project portfolio with 54 MW of community solar assets in New York from Seaboard Solar. And it acquired two community solar portfolios in Maryland totaling 23 MW, comprised of six projects spread across the state. An acquisition of a 75.6 MW portfolio in Illinois marked its entry into the Midwest.
Founded in 2006, Nautilus oversees community solar project financing, development, construction, maintenance and subscriber management. The company is owned by Power Sustainable, a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada.
