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Solar power in Minnesota
Overview of solar power in the U.S. state of Minnesota

Solar power in Minnesota expanded significantly in the early 2010s as a result of the cost decrease of photovoltaics and favorable policies. By 2016, it began to grow quickly.

In 1983, Minnesota adopted a net metering rule which allows customers generating up to 40 kW to use net metering, with the kilowatt-hour surplus rolled over each month, or optionally credited at the retail rate.

In May 2013, the Minnesota legislature adopted a mandate on investor-owned utilities in the state that requires them to produce 1.5% of their electricity from solar power by 2020 with the bill also raising the state's cap on net metering from 40 kW to 1 MW. This mandate is in addition to the state's renewable portfolio standard of 25% by 2025 and it is estimated that affected utilities will have to add 450 MW of solar by 2020 to comply with the 1.5% requirement.

While Minnesota is currently developing several utility level projects, currently, Minnesota's largest solar array is the North Star Solar Project in North Branch, Minnesota. With more than 440,000 solar panels, its output is more than 100MW. Other large arrays include the 62MW Marshall Solar Energy Project, completed in January 2017, a 2MW solar array in Slayton followed by a 1 MW array at an IKEA in Bloomington. There is also a 600 kW array on the roof of the Minneapolis Convention Center,. In January 2015, Ecolab announced it would be going 100% solar powered by purchasing power from community solar gardens to be built by SunEdison. Ecolab's share of the power would be 16MW, more than the amount of solar power in the state at the time of the announcement. If completely subscribed the solar gardens could provide up to 200MW. The Aurora Solar Project is a similar distributed network of arrays planned to reach 100MW utilizing midsized 2MW-10MW installations throughout the southern half of the state. The 62MW Marshall Solar Energy Project is proposed to be built on 500 acres near Marshall, Minnesota. Already home to the state's largest array, Chisago County, Minnesota has seven additional arrays in various stages of completion, earning it the nickname the solar capitol of Minnesota. When finished they will generate roughly 29 MW.

Minnesota has the potential to generate 38.5% of its electricity from rooftop solar, from 23,100 MW of solar panels. St. Paul can generate 27% of its electricity, using 800 MW, and Minneapolis 26% from 1,000 MW.

As of 2021, the average installation cost for solar panels is $3.07 per watt. Minnesota gets about 4 peak sun hours per day, so a 5 kW system can be expected to produce 7,300 kWh of energy per year and cost an average of $15,350.

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Statistics

Source: Perez-SUNY/NREL, 201219
Minnesota Grid-Connected PV Capacity (MW)

2021222324252627282930

YearCapacityInstalled% Change
20070.90.352%
20081.20.340%
20092.10.975%
20104.52.3109%
20116.41.943%
2012125.788%
2013175.142%
2014236.237%
2015371459%
2016246209562%
2017714468190%
20181,11840456%
20191,36424622%
20201,568.6204.615%
20211,677.7109.1%
20221,76385.3%
Utility-scale solar generation in Minnesota (GWh)31
YearTotalJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
201611001111111112
2017595193649486374856360452924
20181,04344559611812511614411293703832
20191,248503194116148173172166111875347
20201,7588111013216519019120718815113811392
20211,9729911216918821721720921218114612696
2022113

See also

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References

  1. "Minnesota Solar Profile". SEIA. Retrieved 2017-05-25. http://www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/minnesota-solar ↩

  2. "Minnesota Department of Commerce". State Energy Office. 2017-05-25. https://mn.gov/commerce/policy-data-reports/energy-data-reports/ ↩

  3. Minnesota - Net Metering https://programs.dsireusa.org/system/program/detail/282/net-metering ↩

  4. Haugen, Dan (2013-05-24). "Minnesota's new solar law: Looking beyond percentages". Midwest Energy News. Retrieved 2013-05-25. http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/05/24/minnesotas-new-solar-law-looking-beyond-percentages/ ↩

  5. Rosenblatt, Molly (19 October 2016). "Construction Completed On The Largest Solar Grid In The Midwest". Retrieved 2017-03-19. http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/10/19/north-star-solar-project-north-branch/ ↩

  6. Notable Solar Installations in Minnesota http://www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/minnesota-solar ↩

  7. Minneapolis Convention Center - Sustainability https://www.minneapolis.org/minneapolis-convention-center/about/sustainability/ ↩

  8. Ecolab to go all-solar in Minnesota, DAVID SHAFFER, Star Tribune, January 13, 2015 http://www.startribune.com/business/288349691.html ↩

  9. Regulators approve Aurora Solar Project http://www.startribune.com/regulators-give-green-light-to-largest-minnesota-solar-energy-project/305357571/ ↩

  10. Aurora Solar Project https://www.enelgreenpower.com/our-projects/operating/aurora-solar-project ↩

  11. Planned solar farm in southwest MN draws fire from residents, Mark Steil, Duluth News Tribune, January 21, 2015 http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/3661319-planned-solar-farm-southwest-mn-draws-fire-residents ↩

  12. "Chisago County proud to be solar capitol of Minnesota". http://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/blog/chisago-county-proud-be-solar-capitol-minnesota ↩

  13. "Solar Development Projects In Chisago County, March 30, 2016". Chisago County, Minnesota. Archived from the original on 2018-06-19. Retrieved March 18, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180619050356/http://www.co.chisago.mn.us/DocumentCenter/Home/View/7233 ↩

  14. "21% of Minnesota's electricity came from renewables in 2015" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Commerce, State Energy Office. 2016-04-02. http://mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/mn-renewable-energy-update-2015-page-numbers.pdf ↩

  15. Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Technical Potential in the United States: A Detailed Assessment http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/65298.pdf ↩

  16. Peak Sun Hours Explained https://www.solarreviews.com/blog/peak-sun-hours-explained ↩

  17. NREL Solar Resource Maps https://www.nrel.gov/gis/solar-resource-maps.html ↩

  18. Solar Panel Cost in Minnesota https://www.energysage.com/local-data/solar-panel-cost/mn/ ↩

  19. "NREL Solar Dataset Query". NREL. Retrieved 11 November 2021. https://developer.nrel.gov/docs/solar/data-query-v1/ ↩

  20. "Installed Solar Capacity". Minnesota Department of Commerce. 2017-05-18. https://mn.gov/commerce/industries/energy/utilities/annual-reporting/ ↩

  21. "MRETS Generators". Midwest Energy Tracking System. Retrieved 2017-05-18.[dead link] https://portal2.m-rets.com/myModule/rpt/myrpt.aspx?r=111/ ↩

  22. Sherwood, Larry (August 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2011" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2012-08-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20120906231846/http://www.irecusa.org/wp-content/uploads/IRECSolarMarketTrends-2012-web.pdf ↩

  23. Sherwood, Larry (June 2011). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 20. Retrieved 2011-06-29. http://irecusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IREC-Solar-Market-Trends-Report-June-2011-web.pdf ↩

  24. Sherwood, Larry (July 2010). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2009" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-09-25. Retrieved 2010-07-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20100925184512/http://irecusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/IREC-Solar-Market-Trends-Report-2010_7-27-10_web1.pdf ↩

  25. Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2010-07-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20091123030109/http://www.irecusa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/NationalOutreachDocs/SolarTrendsReports/IREC_Solar_Market_Trends_Report_2008.pdf ↩

  26. Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2010-07-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20091123030109/http://www.irecusa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/NationalOutreachDocs/SolarTrendsReports/IREC_Solar_Market_Trends_Report_2008.pdf ↩

  27. Sherwood, Larry (July 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2012" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2013-10-11. http://www.irecusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Solar-Report-Final-July-2013-1.pdf ↩

  28. Sherwood, Larry (July 2014). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2013" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2014-09-26. http://www.irecusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Final-Solar-Report-7-3-14-W-2-8.pdf ↩

  29. "Minnesota Solar Profile". SEIA. Retrieved 2017-05-25. https://www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/minnesota-solar ↩

  30. "2017 was another sunny year for solar energy in Minnesota". Minnesota.gov. Retrieved 2018-02-01. https://mn.gov/commerce/media/news/?id=17-324916 ↩

  31. "Electricity Data Browser". U.S. Department of Energy. March 28, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2021. http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/ ↩