Tag: Solar energy

Democrats call to end fossil fuel industry, push 'Green New Deal.' #Tucker #FoxNews FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in…

The power from those panels, along with power the district buys from another 10,000 panels that have been erected in other parts of the county, is expected to save the district $3 million in electricity costs over the next 30 years, according to IPS Solar, the company that developed and installed the panels at the schools. In recent years, solar projects have spread fast in rural Minnesota, mostly in the form of “solar gardens” – those blue-paneled arrays, often erected on farmland, that can be seen from highways and county roads all over the state. At the end of 2017, according to the state Commerce Department, 94 solar gardens were up and running across Minnesota, producing 286 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power roughly 285,000 homes. Even so, the spread of solar gardens has not been without controversy, with the pace of change and the stark, utilitarian look of the installations – sharp rows of reflecting panels standing where corn or beans once shimmered – the source of some discontent in this bucolic region. The array produces 40 kilowatts of power, enough for one-third of the electricity needed to power the cheese factory – and to save Eichten $400 to $500 a month. Eichten was the first Chisago County resident to erect solar panels, and his neighbors weren’t sure what to think about them. In Minnesota, solar power is captured and produced in three main ways: through solar panels that people put on the roofs of their homes or businesses; through solar gardens (like the one on Eichten’s farm) in which “subscribers” who buy shares get credit on their electricity bills; and through large utility sites like North Star Solar. In the southern end of the county, Chisago City, Lindstrom and Center City sit just miles apart, connected by a string of lakes that are currently covered with ice-fishing fish houses. “Solar does take up farm land,” he said. “One of things that has made it more palatable here is that (some of the land) is not high-quality farm land.