Solar Convention Center

Photos Courtesy of Meet Minneapolis.

MINNEAPOLIS — A 2,600-panel solar array could sit atop the Minneapolis Convention Center as early as this winter, potentially producing 750,000-kilowatt hours of energy per year – or enough electricity to power 85 homes year-round.

 

The Public Utilities Commission of Minnesota granted approval for the City of Minneapolis to use a $2 million Xcel Energy’s Renewable Development Fund grant to construct the system that will connect directly into the convention center’s grid. Officials expect the grant, along with federal tax incentives for solar power, to make the project possible without any capital investment by the city.

 

Earlier this year, the Minneapolis City Council authorized Best Power International of Hopkins, Minn., to develop, own and operate the 600-kilowatt solar system. City officials plan to lock in a long-term contract with a fixed energy cost as a hedge against future energy price increases. Renewable energy design and engineering firm Westwood Renewables, of Eden Prairie, Minn., will help develop the solar array.

 

The City Council is presently considering how to implement $1.35 million in state funding for renewable energy construction. The funds will be used to build a 166-kilowatt solar system along Minneapolis’ Energy Innovation Corridor, where a light-rail transit train station is on track for completion by 2014.

 

Between 800 and 900 solar panels, as well as solar heating systems, will be put into place on public buildings in the energy corridor as early as 2011 if funding sources are approved, sources say. The panels will generate electricity for the grid and put Minneapolis closer to a city goal of producing 1 megawatt of solar electricity by 2014. 

 

The solar panels at the Convention Center are expected to offset 539 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions —a figure that is equal to the amount given off by 60,587 gallons of gasoline used by cars annually — and will meet between five percent and eight percent of the convention hall’s total electricity needs, depending on the amount of events that are held at the center, says Brian Millberg, energy manager for Minneapolis. 

 

The project still faces challenges that include nailing down financing and securing regulatory approval, Millberg says. If all goes well, construction is expected to begin in August, with the project completed and operational by the end of the year.

 

“Overall, this project will generate approximately 30 development, design and construction jobs, says Nathan Franzen, general manager at Westwood Renewables. “All of the equipment will be manufactured in the U.S.” 

 

The solar panels will be mounted in roof-penetrating brackets and will give the Convention Center another dimension to its existing sustainable efforts, which include recycling and composting 27.8 tons of materials per month, conserving water and electricity, using 95 percent Green Seal-certified products for cleaning, donating surplus food to local organizations, and recycling food preparation waste at local hog farms.

 

An energy audit aimed at identifying additional areas where energy use can be reduced is also in the planning stages for the convention hall.