HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 5 - Solar Array Install Begins
City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Krystal Caron, Communications Coordinator
Phone 952-826-0347 • kcaron@EdinaMN.gov • EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Solar Array Installation Begins Mid-July
Edina, Minn., July 5, 2018 – Installation begins later this month on installation of a community solar garden
on the roof of the Public Works & Park Maintenance Facility, 7450 Metro Blvd. Cooperative Energy Futures
(CEF) leased the roof space from the City for 25 years and installation is expected to begin Tuesday, July 17,
and be completed in early October.
“The City is committed to our greenhouse gas emission reduction and being a leader in energy reduction.
While the City does not own the renewable energy credits for this solar array, we are supporting more
renewable energy on our energy grid by leasing the rooftop to CEF,” said Sustainability Coordinator Tara
Brown. “We’re pleased that the community has supported this project and that all 68 subscribers are Edina
residents.”
Community solar gardens offer members of a community a chance to subscribe to the solar array to offset
some of their electricity use and allow residents to reduce their monthly energy costs and lock in stable, long-
term electricity rates. Subscriptions to solar gardens are open for all residents who are Xcel Energy
customers. Residents have the opportunity to subscribe for up to 120 percent of their electricity use from a
solar array. Most homes use around 800 kWh of electricity per month, which totals 9600 kWh/year or 8 kW.
Xcel will deliver energy from the CEF array and credit subscribers’ bills for the energy it produces.
CEF is a local, member-owned energy cooperative. The organization is working to make solar affordable by
building large solar arrays on sunny rooftops or open areas throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro.
Alongside Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light, which helped recruit subscribers for the Edina array, and other
partners, CEF is a founding member of the Just Community Solar Coalition. The coalition’s goal is to ensure
community solar gardens are accessible to low-income households; create local, sustainable jobs; protect the
environment and provide a new avenue for how energy is created and used.
For more information, contact Sustainability Coordinator Tara Brown at tbrown@EdinaMN.gov
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