Ecolibrium3’s solar garden benefits veterans and families in need

The solar project is not just about producing power. Ecolibrium3 plans to have the Lincoln Park Solar Garden serve as an entrance to the neighborhood, as a gathering spot for community members, and as an outdoor art gallery.

The Lincoln Park Solar Garden is being paid for in part by Minnesota Power’s Low Income Solar Pilot Program, foundations, individual donors, and small businesses. A successful fundraising event reached its goal, helping secure an additional $25,000 challenge grant.

Ecolibrium3 will own the $200,000 array, located not far from its office in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Minnesota Power will buy all the electricity the project produces and those proceeds will go to benefit two organizations.

Although she’s happy to help Duluth residents struggling with energy poverty “it’s a small fraction of what we really need to benefit our community,” Slick said.

The Lincoln Park project was initially conceived as a community solar project in which Ecolibrium3 would select low income families to participate. But that model could only benefit a dozen families and “it’s tough to pick winners and losers in that scenario,” Slick said.

Helping families avoid utility disconnection with mini grants held greater appeal because of the opportunity to assist more people over the expected 25-year lifespan of the array, Slick said.

Ecolibrium3 plans to work with families who receive the grants on developing long-term weatherization plans that could reduce their bills, whether they live in homes or apartments.

“We hope that over time there will be more and more of these types of arrays to help neighborhoods,” she said. “We’d love to get to a point where there is greater energy equity. But in this case, we really wanted to prioritize the program to those who needed it the most and spread the benefits across multiple families and over time.”

As part of the second phase, canvases by six community artists will be installed at the back of the solar arrays, she said. People driving into Duluth will be able to easily spot the panels, but they will have to detour to see the art and the neighborhood’s other attractions, among them a craft district of food and product merchants.

Enticing visitors to Lincoln Park soon becomes more challenging as the Department of Transportation prepares to start the largest highway infrastructure project in the state. The Twin Ports Interchange, as it is called, will replace and rebuild connections to three highways—I35, I-535, and Highway 53—right in the middle of Lincoln Park.