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Minnesota's rural expansion of solar power

An array of solar panels
An array of solar panels is seen on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, in Pelican Rapids, Minn. Lake Region Electric Cooperative workers used their own expertise, along with the derricks normally used to install power poles, to put in this array. The do-it-yourself effort saved considerable dollars and contributed to the project's viability.
Ann Arbor Miller / MPR News

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Solar gardens are cropping up in rural Minnesota following 2013 legislation where Xcel Energy buys energy from the projects across the state.

Jennifer Vogel wrote about the projects for MPR News, as part of the Ground Level Project:

Last week, Xcel began accepting applications for its "Solar Rewards Community" program.

Early community solar gardens in Minnesota tended to be located in and around the Twin Cities. The Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association in Rockford, Minn., has built two -- and there are two that have been invested in but haven't yet been built in Minneapolis: one on the roof of Northern Sun Merchandising on Lake Street and the other at Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church.

But the concept is taking hold in smaller, more far-flung communities as well, even outside Xcel's service area, which is concentrated in central and southern Minnesota. Besides the project on the Eichten farm north of the Twin Cities, there is one under way in Gaylord, Minn., a little over an hour southwest of the Twin Cities.

Two people working to create solar gardens in Minnesota join The Daily Circuit to discuss the project.