Solar power in Minnesota expanded significantly in the early 2010s as a result of the cost decrease of

photovoltaics Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commerciall ...

and favorable policies. By 2016, it began to grow quickly. In 1983,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

adopted a

net metering Net metering (or net energy metering, NEM) is an electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, instead of when it is generated. This is particularly impor ...

rule which allows customers generating up to 40 kW to use net metering, with the kilowatt-hour surplus rolled over each month, or optionally credited at the retail rate. In May 2013, the Minnesota legislature adopted a mandate on investor-owned utilities in the state that requires them to produce 1.5% of their electricity from solar power by 2020, with the bill also raising the state's cap on net metering from 40 kW to 1 MW. This mandate is in addition to the state's

renewable portfolio standard A renewable portfolio standard (RPS) is a regulation that requires the increased production of energy from renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. Other common names for the same concept include Renewable Electric ...

of 25% by 2025, and it is estimated that affected utilities will have to add 450 MW of solar by 2020 to comply with the 1.5% requirement. While Minnesota is currently developing several utility level projects, currently, Minnesota's largest solar array is the North Star Solar Project in North Branch, Minnesota. With more than 440,000 solar panels, its output is more than 100MW. Other large arrays include the 62MW Marshall Solar Energy Project, completed in January 2017, a 2MW solar array in Slayton followed by a 1 MW array at an

IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

in Bloomington. There is also a 600 kW array on the roof of the

Minneapolis Convention Center The Minneapolis Convention Center is a large convention center located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota that opened in 1990. It is located one block away from Nicollet Mall near Orchestra Hall (Minneapolis), Orchestra Hall. The Minneapolis Con ...

,. In January 2015,

Ecolab Ecolab Inc. is an American corporation headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It develops and offers services, technology and systems that specialize in treatment, purification, cleaning and hygiene of water in a wide variety of applications. F ...

announced it would be going 100% solar powered by purchasing power from community solar gardens to be built by

SunEdison SunEdison, Inc. (formerly MEMC Electronic Materials) is a renewable energy company headquartered in the U.S. In addition to developing, building, owning, and operating solar power plants and wind energy plants, it also manufactures high-purity ...

. Ecolab's share of the power would be 16MW, more than the amount of solar power in the state at the time of the announcement. If completely subscribed the solar gardens could provide up to 200MW. The Aurora Solar Project is a similar distributed network of arrays planned to reach 100MW utilizing midsized 2MW-10MW installations throughout the southern half of the state. The 62MW Marshall Solar Energy Project is proposed to be built on 500 acres near

Marshall, Minnesota Marshall is a city in Lyon County, Minnesota, Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,628 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and 13,906 as of 2023 estimates. Marshall is a regional center in southwest Minnesota ...

. Already home to the state's largest array,

Chisago County, Minnesota Chisago County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county covers an area of and, as of the 2020 Census, had a population of 56,621 people. It is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul ...

, has seven additional arrays in various stages of completion, earning it the nickname the solar capital of Minnesota. When finished they will generate roughly 29 MW. Minnesota has the potential to generate 38.5% of its electricity from rooftop solar, from 23,100 MW of solar panels. St. Paul can generate 27% of its electricity, using 800 MW, and Minneapolis 26% from 1,000 MW. As of 2021, the average installation cost for solar panels is $3.07 per watt. Minnesota gets about 4 peak sun hours per day, so a 5 kW system can be expected to produce 7,300 kWh of energy per year and cost an average of $15,350.Solar Panel Cost in Minnesota
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Statistics

References

External links

Minnesota Department of Commerce

SEIA, Minnesota Solar Profile

Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association

Incentives and Policies
{{Energy in the USA Energy in Minnesota

Statistics

See also

References

External links