The state's largest city, Minneapolis, has made the transition to using renewable energy exclusively to generate its electricity in less than 15 years. Hydropower is now powered exclusively by wind and solar, and hydropower only covers a small part of the city's electricity needs.
In Minneapolis, a 1 kW solar panel that supplies a home with electricity will generate about 1,250 kWh of energy annually. Across the country, an average of 190 households are supplied with one megawatt of solar energy, and in Minneapolis about 1.5 megawatts.
This is the overall performance we can expect from a 1 kW solar panel assuming average conditions in Minnesota. Simply enter the coordinates and you will receive an average of 1,250 kWh of energy per year, or about 1.5 megawatts of power.
If you live in other states where we offer our services, you can support the clean energy revolution by opting for cleaner energy. Our experts can take you to the best solar companies in Minnesota to create your solar proposal. The Minnesota Solar Suitability app can help you determine whether a particular location is best suited for you for solar energy. You don't have to wait for us to help you with the approval of incentives, paperwork and complete installation.
Xcel Energy offers a variety of options for customers who want to obtain electricity from a local solar power source but cannot or do not want to install their own modules. Consumers could see the possibility of supporting renewable energy by installing solar panels or participating in a utility-run scheme. Community solar panels make it easier for households that cannot install solar panels on their roofs to participate in regional solar panels.
Members of other Minnesota utilities can also subscribe to community solar gardens and access a variety of renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and geothermal. Members of another Minnesota utility can subscribe to SolarGardens by offering a combination of solar panels, wind turbines, hydropower or other renewable energy sources.
Residents, business owners and nonprofit communities can purchase solar garden subscriptions to install solar panels on their properties. Solar gardens are an alternative to private solar panels, but Minnesota does not allow third-party PV systems, which means you have the option of having your own solar system or community solar garden in your garden. Since Community Solar does not require a roof top system, it can appeal to people who want to support solar energy and install it easily in their own homes. When you rent an apartment, buying or leasing part of a shared plot of land can be an easy option for solar energy, with the initial money to build your solar panels.
One of the more affordable incentives offered by EDF is the Xcel Energy Solar Rewards scheme, which pays customers who installed solar panels between 2014 and 2018 for 10 years each year. If you sign up for the program, you can receive a $0.08 per kWh premium for every kilowatt hour you receive from your private PV system, capped at $120 in monthly production if you are a customer of Xcel, the largest utility in Minnesota. In addition to the net measurements, you get an additional $1,000 a year in annual savings on your utility bill.
To help customers who use solar energy, Minnesota has introduced an exemption from the sales tax on solar energy that saves residents nearly 7 percent when buying a solar system. The state's electricity bill has also been revised to include solar power - which requires that 1.5 percent of the state's electricity comes from solar by 2020. Minnesota is one of only four states with a renewable energy mandate and has made solar energy a central part of its energy policy, which has led to an increase of more than 1,000 megawatts (MW) in solar installations since 2014.
This ambitious goal is evidence of the government's continued commitment to renewable energy, but it will certainly require a lot of work from the private and public sectors. To keep this award in mind, the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES) - founded in 1979 - is the 501c3 voluntary non-profit organization with the mission of serving the people of Minnesota as a leader in the development and promotion of clean, renewable, and energy-efficient energy. Zenergy, the largest provider of solar energy services in Minnesota and a partner in this initiative, is working to provide Minnesota residents with clean energy that will have a positive impact on their health, well-being and the environment.
Community Solar Gardens is a centrally located photovoltaic system that provides electricity to participating participants in Zenergy's Community Solar Energy Services (CES) program. This solar garden is one of the largest projects in the state with a total capacity of about 96 megawatts and the first of its kind in Minnesota. Community Solar Garden is the nation's largest solar park project centrally located in five communities and providing power to more than 2,000 participating subscribers.
