The Vision
Building the first urban solar farm in the United States in Minneapolis / Saint Paul can be a reality!
- The Twin Cities Solar Farm will propel the Twin Cities and Minnesota into the leading edge of sustainable energy production and community development in the United States and the world.
- A project of this scale will solidify Minnesota's solar industry as a world leader and will draw companies to the Twin Cities.
- The Twin Cities Solar Farm will create an exciting new paradigm for interaction between the government, the utility industry and the green sector. A more effective partnership between these groups will allow them to best capitalize on the opportunities created from becoming a world leader in sustainable energy production.
- There can also be great opportunities to showcase Saint Paul's jewel of Victorian architecture, Summit Avenue, as a wonderful counterpoint to the 21st century jewel of the Twin Cities Solar Farm - just a few blocks away.
There is a window of opportunity for this visionary project to come to fruition. Over 100 years ago visionary pioneers had a simple idea of harnessing the power of St. Anthony Falls for flour mills. The fruits of their vision built two cities and a state.
Harnessing the sunlight on University Avenue will have an equally profound impact on the destiny of the Twin Cities Metro Area and the State of Minnesota.
The Mission
Planning for the Light Rail Transit Line (LRT) along University Avenue has catalyzed a conceptual "Sustainability Zone", even though the line may not be operational for another six years. This is bringing people together in new ways to explore all the exciting possibilities for sustainable community development on an unparalleled scale.
There are tremendous opportunities for higher efficiencies in transportation, land use and energy use. The partnerships that develop here can be studied and replicated throughout the Twin Cities area, the U.S. and the world.
- One great example is the deployment of solar power for distributed generation (DG) in the "Sustainability Zone" along University Avenue to make the utility power grid more robust.
Project Description
A network of solar electric (PV) power systems will be installed in the "Sustainability Planning Zone" along the University Avenue Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line, creating an aggregated peak power capacity of five megawatts (5,000 kilowatts).
How much power is that?
According to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the average Minneapolis home uses about 8,400 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of electricity per year.
A five megawatt (5,000 kilowatt) solar electric system will contain about 25,000 solar electric panels (at 200 watts per panel) and could power about 2,900 homes for an entire year!
Where will it be located?
The component solar electric (PV) systems, ranging from 10 to 100 kilowatts in size, will be mounted on the rooftops of commercial and industrial buildings nominally within six blocks of University Avenue along the corridor between downtown Saint Paul and downtown Minneapolis.
How will it work?
Each solar electric (PV) system will feed power into the electrical system of its host building, with any instantaneous surplus power flowing directly into the utility grid.
The intent of the Twin Cities Solar Farm is to provide up to half of the power needed by the University Avenue Light Rail Line. In actuality, it will meet some of the peak daytime electrical demand in the immediate vicinity of University Avenue in order to free grid capacity for the Light Rail Line.
Consequently, the Twin Cities Solar Farm can be viewed as a demand-side management tool for the utility. As a distributed generation (DG) system, there is no requirement for extra infrastructure on the grid to receive the power produced by the Farm.
Available Space
About 20 million square feet of commercial flat rooftop space is available for solar electric (PV) arrays between the downtown areas and within six blocks of University Avenue.
Ten kilowatts of solar electric (PV) panels will occupy about 2,000 square feet of flat roof space. The available rooftop space, if fully utilized, could support 10,000 PV systems sized at 10 kilowatts each, or a total of 100 megawatts of PV capacity.
Five megawatts of PV systems will cover about only 5% of the available roof space - with plenty of room for more!
Ownership Models and Financing Options
Building ownership along the "Sustainability Zone" covers a full spectrum of models: all levels of government, large retail chain stores, schools, two universities, condo associations and single owners.
Because of this wide variety of ownership models, any program that promotes solar electric power systems will need to include several financing models to match building owners' various needs.
A distributed generation (DG) model for solar electricity doesn't require just one particular business model or feed-in configuration for a successful installation.
Capital can be attracted from banks, investors, manufacturers, and of course, the building owners themselves, according to the building owners' requirements.
Growing the Local
Solar Industry
A project of this magnitude will provide an opportunity to demonstrate several elements of a full-scale local solar electric industry.
An argument often heard in favor of renewable energy is that the full deployment of solar and wind will create more high-quality jobs in the state. It can involve local training programs for the trades, most notably, electrical workers. Depending on the time scale over which the project is deployed, crews of workers could be kept employed for several years.
In addition, local manufacturers can ramp up production to satisfy a stronger local market and won't have to rely exclusively on distant markets to succeed.
The role of the System Administrator will be critical for the success of the Twin Cities Solar Farm.
The System Administrator will be responsible for:
- developing a set of protocols for utility interconnection
- maintaining high performance standards
- coordinating installers, building officials and other stakeholders
- aggregating the mosaic of PV systems for REC trading
- coordinating with the electric utility
- ensuring that systems are maintained and performing well
- packaging and delivering available incentive programs
- and various other administrative tasks as needed
As we're sure you can see by now:
We need a strategic planning process to create a thriving solar industry in Minnesota.
The Work Plan
The Work Plan is an ever-growing conceptual framework that is meant to facilitate partnerships in the strategic planning and development process.
