Southeast Minnesota communities explore solar potential

The report, Solar Ready Albert Lea first considered the city as a whole, including all residents, businesses, and institutions.

• It was found that the city’s rooftops have the technical potential to generate 42% of the electricity used. Deep analysis was done on 15 total sites (6 for the city, 7 for the Albert Lea Area Schools, and 2 for Freeborn County).
• B3 Benchmarking data for the past two years at the city sites was considered and led to the recommendation that prior to installing solar at the airport, aquatic center, and the wastewater treatment plant, energy efficiency be explored. This was because those sites performed below 65% of their peers based on the benchmarking data.
• The city center, ice arena, and city garage are performing well compared to building peers and in addition, the ice arena and garage have the space to potentially generate 100% of their energy.
• The city’s wastewater treatment plant was found to have a cost-benefit of generating over $7 for every dollar invested in solar.
• Benchmarking data was not available for the school or county buildings, but three of the school buildings also had the potential to achieve net-zero energy.
• For each of the sites a solar installation was mocked-up graphically and a 30-year electricity generation and revenue calculation made based on a 3rd party ownership model.

The report, Faribault: Solar for City and Schools, considered building benchmarking data on 5 city buildings and 8 public school buildings.

• The report determined that the city’s Washington Center and the school district’s Alternative Learning Center had the potential to achieve net-zero energy.
• Based on the quality of the solar resource and return on investment, solar installations were prioritized for 18 total buildings (five belonging to the City of Faribault, eight belonging to the Faribault Public Schools, and five belonging to Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a local private school).
• Half of the 18 buildings were estimated to be able to return $2 or more for each $1 invested in solar generation. The High School came in at over a 4 to 1 return, and all other buildings were over 1.25 to 1.
• Faribault presented their final report to a broad audience that included: city council, 400 9th grade students at the public school, and business and community leaders.