One of the many multimillion-dollar solar farms set to be built in the Riverina has differentiated itself from its counterparts by asking "everyday Australians" to become part-owners.
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Earmarked for a property about 75 kilometres north-west of Wagga, the Grong Grong Solar Farm is expected to cost $4 million and produce 1.7 megawatts of power each year.
Jonathan Prendergast, one of the directors behind the project, is hoping to have the farm up and running by December.
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But first, his company is looking to generate about $750,000 for construction, by letting residents and businesses across the country buy shares in the project.
"Investments for everyday Australians can be a bit limited to property ... so it's not very often people can invest in an owner share of a solar farm," Mr Prendergast said.
"It might be people motivated to invest in the transition to renewables ... or it might be people that haven't been able to get rooftop solar themselves and want to enjoy the benefits of that."
Mr Prendergast said contributors will receive returns on their investments when the farm begins selling power to the local energy grid.
The project will be one of the first community-owned solar farms in Australia, however the model is commonplace across Europe and the United States.
Shares will be available to residents across the country for $250, while businesses will be able to put in as much as $10,000.
Grong Grong resident Gemma Purcell owns the land the solar farm will be built on and said she was a fan of the model as it "decentralises" some of Australia's energy.
"People are just tired of these huge multi-national companies monopolosing how our energy is generated and how it's priced and sold," she said.
Expressions of interest to buy shares in the solar farm opened this week, with more than 100 being submitted in the opening 24 hours.
The development is just one of many solar farms currently in the works across the Riverina.
Many of these projects have drawn the ire of nearby farmers who feel the projects are wasting "prime agricultural land".
Off the back of these concerns, Wagga MP Joe McGirr called for an immediate pause on the approval of new solar farms in April.
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