Electric co-op adds more solar energy resources

Solar AstroPower copy 2Dairyland Power Cooperative is once again expanding its renewable energy resources with the addition of another commercial solar project. The new solar installation will be approximately 520 kilowatts (kW), and could produce enough energy to power nearly 60 homes.

“For many years, we have been steadily adding renewable resources to our system while ­balancing reliability and affordability for our members,” said Bill Berg, President and CEO. “Solar powered generation was part of our long-term resource plan, and this project is a good fit with Dairyland’s overall strategic plan.”

This project expands and complements Dairyland’s already diverse renewable portfolio (wind, biogas, biomass, hydro, solar). Its renewable resources provide about 12.5 percent of the energy delivered to its members.

Dairyland also purchases the excess energy ­output from a 368 kW solar generation facility owned by the City of Galena, Ill., and a number of smaller distributed generation projects. There are over 350 customer-owned solar photovoltaic facilities in the Dairyland system across Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois and that number continues to grow.