A 39 kW solar PV array is the newest piece of equipment on Ronningen Dairy Farm in West Concord, MN in rural Goodhue County, and it’s pumping enough energy into the grid to cover about 50% of the dairy’s electricity needs.
With over 100 head of Brown Swiss and Holstein dairy cows, Kurtis and Kelly at Ronningen Dairy Farm are keeping plenty busy, and always looking for ways to help their family business to be more economically sustainable. The decision to install 39 kW of solar will save the dairy a considerable amount of money on their energy bills by avoiding the rising costs of electricity.
The farm worked with Fritz Ebinger at the Clean Energy Resource Teams to get project planning support through the Renewable Energy for Greater Minnesota program. They came to Fritz from Curt Shellum at Solar Connection, a Rochester-based solar installer. The farm used templates from CERTs to apply for USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which provides grants and loans for energy systems. While the farm was not successful in their REAP funding, they were able to take advantage of the 30% federal tax credit for renewable energy systems.
Through the Renewable Energy for Greater Minnesota program farmers and rural small businesses can get assistance with solar site assessments, and funding and financing support for programs like REAP (mentioned above) and Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), a new and simple way to finance energy projects through property tax assessments.
PROJECT SNAPSHOT:
- Business: Dairy Farm
- Location: West Concord, MN
- Approach: Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
- Technology: 39 kW solar PV installed by Solar Connection
Find out how you can power your farm or business with the Renewable Energy for Greater Minnesota program
from MN Energy Stories Blog from CERTs http://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/blog/ronningen-dairy-farm-adds-solar-pv-their-west-concord-operation
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