Farm Horizons
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erson estimated at $13,000 to $14,000 annually for each
five-megawatt solar garden. He also detailed a federal tax
credit that reimburses $3 for every $10 spent on solar energy.
Residents like Joe Fake have expressed concerns about
setbacks. In Wright County, a 60-foot setback is required.
“This massive solar farm could be within 60 feet of a
residence?” Fake asked.
Wright County Zoning Administrator Sean Riley said,
in Wright County, it could be that close, but solar gardens
are not allowed in residential areas.
Galow said many counties are only requiring a 20-foot
setback, while the most restrictive requirement he was
aware of was 100 feet.
Ruiz said US Solar would consider voluntarily increasing the setbacks. The company also prefers to have a 7-foot
fence surrounding its solar gardens, as long as it is allowed
by the county.
Two other concerns are glare and noise.
“Solar panels are designed to absorb light,” Richerson
said. “They would be absolutely flunking if they were
pushing off a reflection.”
“If you’re outside of the fence, you’re not going to hear
anything,” Richerson added. “If you go looking for noise,
it will be in the inverter. It’s like a refrigerator. There’s not
a lot of noise from solar.”
April 4
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Page 30
He said the criteria for ideal sites includes a lack of wetlands, locations not adjacent to neighborhoods or planned
future developments, and locations relatively close to substations for easy electricity transmission.
While large solar gardens are being proposed for rural
areas, co-ops like Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric
Association and McLeod Cooperative Power have smaller
solar projects.
McLeod County Power currently has a community solar
garden with 100 solar panels, which is 100 percent sold
out to customers, with the ability to construct an additional
50-panel array.
Wright-Hennepin has a 30-kilowatt array, a 32-kilowatt
array, and plans for construction of a 150-kilowatt array
on about a half-acre of land in the summer. It also built
two solar arrays, a total of 330 panels on the roof of the
city-owned Rockford City Center Mall and the city’s water
tower property, for use by the city of Rockford.
Wright-Hennepin member owners have been supportive
of efforts to use more solar energy.
“It’s been 95 percent positive comments,” said Steve
Nisbet, the vice president of external relations and power
supply at Wright Hennepin. “Mostly, folks are glad we’re
doing something with renewable energy. Member owners
have expressed they believe it’s part of what we should be
doing.” n
Gabe Licht, Delano Herald Journal editor, can be
reached at [email protected]