A new community solar garden now is online near Interstate 94 in Afton on land owned by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
That means Afton has hit a new “green” milestone: All the electricity used by the city to power buildings, street lights, wastewater treatment systems and stormwater lift stations now is fully offset by renewable energy.
“It’s a home run,” Mayor Bill Palmquist said. “We’re expecting to save several thousand dollars a year in utility costs.”
The timing of the installation of the Novel Energy Solutions solar garden could not have been better, Palmquist said, as the city now is using more electricity to power its new stormwater and community sewer systems.
“Using clean energy to power our clean-water initiatives for the St. Croix River makes a great project just that much better,” he said.
The 11-acre solar garden is off Hudson Road in Afton at the site of a former gravel pit. MnDOT has used the property for storage, including pieces of the Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed in 2007.
Novel is paying the state $500 per acre in rent per year.
“It’s a perfect property for a solar garden because it is not visible from the road,” Palmquist said. “It’s a good use of the parcel.”