A party is scheduled for Oct. 28 to mark the completion of the first solar garden in La Plata County. The garden and the party – food, drinks and good company are free – are at 809 County Road 316 in Ignacio. Families are welcome.

Twenty-one subscribers are leasing a share in the 680-panel, $650,000 project. Subscribers will be able to cover the cost of their monthly electric bill.

The solar garden was built by Shaw Solar under a policy approved in 2013 by the La Plata Electric Association.

LPEA customers who are renters, can’t afford the cost of a solar system alone or whose house is not oriented to receive sufficient sun can get into a solar garden project.

daler@durangoherald.com