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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- A month after it was approved by city council, Colorado Springs' new solar garden has found a home.

The Pikes Peak Community Foundation announced the Venetucci Farm signed a lease with SunShare to house the community solar garden.

Once installed city residents will have the option to lease the solar panels to help reduce energy costs.

The solar garden will be the first of its kind in the region.

The Pikes Peak Community Foundation, which owns the Venetucci Farm, said it is excited to help move the city forward with renewable energy.

Officials said they are planning to install 2,500 solar panels on 2.5 acres.

"The community foundation is actually leasing the land back to SunShare, and not in return of money but energy to power Venetucci Farm," Eric Cefus with the Pikes Peak Community Foundation said.

Cefus said some of the animals, including several horses, will have to be moved to another area of the farm but added none of them will suffer as a result of the project.

"We are looking to break ground in the first week of November, and then approximately six to eight weeks of construction time," Cefus said. "Hopefully we will have power flowing by the first or second week of January."

For those interested, the panels are available for lease to all customers of Colorado Springs Utilities.

Cefus said leasing two panels, the minimum required, can reduce the average electric bill by 10 percent.

"A lot of people want solar panels on their home, but a lot of people can not afford those, it is expensive to get it initiated," he said.

The panels cost a one time fee of $550, which covers a 20-year lease.

So far, more than 600 have been reserved.

Meanwhile the Venetucci Farm said the solar garden is the next step in conservation.

"That is the message we want kids to leave here with, and so solar panels will be one more thing for them to see and think about," Susan Gordon with the Venetucci Farm said.