MONEY

Iowa’s largest solar farm in operation

Donnelle Eller
deller@dmreg.com

A half dozen years ago, little solar energy was generated in southeast Iowa, said Warren McKenna, CEO of Farmers Electric Cooperative.

Today, the rural utility, along with local, state and federal leaders, will celebrate the operation of the state’s largest solar farm near Kalona, just south of Iowa City.

“In 2008, there was just one little bitty array in Johnson, Washington and Iowa counties. There were four modules. I don’t know how many modules there are now, but it’s in the thousands” — on homes, businesses, and pig and cattle operations, McKenna said. “It’s really grown here.”

Farmers Electric’s new farm adds 2,900 solar panels to the region’s growing base of sun-powered energy. Eagle Point Solar of Dubuque built and owns the farm; the cooperative will buy the power and take possession after a decade.

The farm will generate up to 1.1 million kilowatt hours a year, or enough energy to power about 120 homes.

Josh Mandelbaum, an attorney at Environmental Law & Policy Center in Des Moines, said the farm is a good example, along with a proposed project in north-central Iowa, that solar can be a good investment for utilities.

Heartland Power Cooperative, with 5,200 members, said earlier this month it is investigating options for a $1.5 million array that would be home to 1,200 solar panels near St. Ansgar in north-central Iowa.

“We hope to see more utilities figure out ways to make solar work,” said Mandelbaum, whose groups and others like it are pushing for more solar adoption. “I don’t think that this will be the biggest project for long. Utilities are well positioned to build large projects and advance solar in the state.”

By harnessing the sun, instead of tapping energy generated by coal-fired power plants, the solar farm avoids the creation of about 2.1 million pounds of carbon pollution each year.

The farm gives the cooperative “the highest per-capita solar generation rate of any utility in the country,” with the potential for 1,800 watts of solar power per customer, it said.

McKenna points to state and federal tax credits, along with recent incentives from investor-owned Alliant Energy, for helping growth. Iowa lawmakers agreed this year to triple to $4.5 million the tax credits available for solar projects, given the demand for incentives.

With a state Supreme Court ruling that says nonprofits can enter into power purchase agreements, Barry Shear, president of Eagle Point Solar, said he believes that solar development should take off. “It’s right around the corner,” he said. Solar “should be everywhere. It provides the peak electricity that we need and it’s good for the planet.”

Farmers Electric Cooperative, with just 650 members, started looking at solar energy in 2008, primarily because of rising energy costs. The group wanted to get 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025, a goal it expects to reach by the end of 2015.

“We don’t have wind in southeast Iowa,” he said. “Solar was our only option.”

The cooperative began its foray into solar by adding panels to local schools.

Then it created the community solar garden that families, businesses and nonprofits such as churches could buy into — initially for $250 for a module. It’s now $475. The cooperative has a waiting list.

“I’ve never been involved in anything that’s had this much positive feedback,” he said. The cooperative continues to own some of the community garden array’s infrastructure, maintaining the operation and insuring it.

Altogether, businesses and families generate about 400 megawatts of solar energy, said McKenna, who estimates that about $5 million has been invested in the region’s solar energy.

For large energy users like a hog confinement, the payback to the farmer can occur as quickly as five years.

For residential users, the payback may take a decade or so, McKenna said. The reduced energy bills help families and businesses. “For some people, it’s a greener mindset — they want to be more responsible,” he said.