Discovery Point is getting SOLAR POWER

NMCWD added solar panels to help power our building and benefit our community now and into the future. We are one of 18 local governments across the state to receive grants from the Minnesota Department of Commerce Solar on Public Buildings Program (https://tinyurl.com/SolarOnPublicBuildingsMN) to install solar power.

The Solar on Public Buildings grant covered about half of the costs for NMCWD to install solar panels on the rooftop above the conference room, near the cistern.  The solar installation was completed in the middle of April.

Our system details

• A 26 panel system that can produce about 15,000 kwh annually (which is about half of our building’s energy usage).

• About $35,000 in total cost to install.

• • With direct pay benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act, the district’s total investment was $7,000.

• We will recoup our investment through reduced operation costs in just 3 years.

Benefits of the Solar on Public Buildings Program

• Adding solar reduces energy costs.
• Our local economy benefits from investments made in expanding our energy infrastructure, and from adding clean energy jobs, like solar installations.
• Solar power helps reduce electricity-based greenhouse gas emissions.
• Solar power adds “homegrown” renewable sources of energy to our building and the state’s electrical grid, since Minnesota currently imports 100% of its fossil fuels.

For more information on the Solar on Public Buildings Program:  https://tinyurl.com/SolarOnPublicBuildingsMN.

For more information about our solar installation, contact Lizzy Boor at eboor@ninemilecreek.org.