See the original publication of this story by Wendy Wilde KTOE Radio Mankato News
A solar array will be going up on Good Counsel Hill. A big one, by Minnesota standards, covering four-and-a-quarter acres and generating 907 kilowatts of power, which will be inverted to 13,800 volts AC, enough to power about 115 homes. The City of Mankato approved a conditional use permit for the solar farm on Monday.
The Sisters of Notre Dame in Mankato are partnering with Hopkins, Minnesota based solar power company Best Power International, to build the solar farm on their land near Loyola High School in Mankato. It will be the fifth largest solar installation in Minnesota. At least, for now, as numerous other solar farms are now in the planning stages.
“It will be considered a relatively small distributed solar project in the future, but right now it will be one of the top five in the state once it gets built here either late this year or early next spring.” said Dwight Jelle, President of Best Power International.
He says Minnesota is a good location for generating solar power. “Minnesota has a solar resource that is similar to Houston, Texas or San Francisco, California.” said Jelle. “It’s about 15-percent less than the best solar resource in the United States. So it’s a good solar resource.”
“The type of technology we’re using on this is Solar Photovoltaic (PV); PV Solar works better in cold climates than it does in warm climates.” Jelle said.
The Sisters of Notre Dame solar array will be installed between Thompson Ravine Road and Highway 14, and will be visible just north of Highway 14. The Sisters will take over ownership of the solar farm after seven years.
