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CULVER — Three St. Louis County Public Works facilities — in Culver and Kugler townships, and near the Whiteface Reservoir — were recently equipped with 40-kilowatt solar arrays on their rooftops.
The solar panels were produced locally by Heliene in Mountain Iron through $336,000 in grants ($112,000 for each building) from the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Statewide Solar on Public Buildings Program.
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Each solar array is estimated to produce 55 megawatts of electricity annually, covering 73% of the facilities’ electrical energy use. The annual estimation takes into account average snowy and cloudy days at each location.
The installation is also expected to reduce carbon emissions by a combined 18 metric tons across the three sites. Over a standard 25-year lifespan, the figure translates to a combined 450-metric ton reduction in carbon emissions.
“Everything about this project is a win,” County Board Chair Mike Jugovich said in a news release. “We are using domestically produced solar panels installed by local trade labor. And they are generating renewable energy, and reducing utility costs, which will save money for our taxpayers for decades to come.”
The Solar on Public Buildings program aims to promote solar energy system installations on Minnesota’s local government buildings by reducing both energy expenses and electricity-related greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the program boosts local economies through investments in energy infrastructure expansion and the growth of clean energy employment, such as solar installation jobs.
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