Laserfiche WebLink
REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION <br /> Date: 3/25/2013 <br /> Item No.: 12.c <br />Department Approval City Manager Approval <br />Item Description: Discuss Solar PV Installations on City Hall and Maintenance Buildings <br />B <br />ACKGROUND <br />1 <br />Recently the City Manager and staff met with Powerfully Green, a solar energy installation <br />2 <br />company and their financial partner, Newport Partners LLC. We discussed opportunities for PV <br />3 <br />(photovoltaic) solar energy installation on city facilities. This company is working with the City <br />4 <br />of Champlin and the City of Lindstrom on installations on their facilities. They use a Minnesota <br />5 <br />made solar panel in their installations. Staff is aware of two Minnesota manufactures of solar <br />6 <br />panels. This is important from a financing perspective due to Minnesota made tax credit <br />7 <br />opportunities. <br />8 <br />Solar installations are currently feasible due to tax credit opportunities and Xcel Energy rebate <br />9 <br />programs. City staff provided energy use information from city hall and the maintenance <br />10 <br />building on the city campus to Powerfully Green and Newport Partners to determine the <br />11 <br />feasibility of installations on these facilities.Their findings suggest a 40kw installation on each <br />12 <br />of the facilities is feasible. This size system would require 25,000 square feet of solar panels on <br />13 <br />each installation. There is adequate area on city hall/police and on the maintenance facilities for <br />14 <br />these installations. The systems are connected to the building electrical panel and reduce the <br />15 <br />amount of electric energy purchased from Xcel. They also feed power back onto Xcel’s grid if <br />16 <br />there is not enough demand from the facility to use the solar generated power. 40kw is the <br />17 <br />maximum installation under the rebate program through Xcel Energy per metered facility. In <br />18 <br />order to take advantage of the tax credits available, the city would enter into a guaranteed energy <br />19 <br />savings contract with the owner of the installation. The installation would be turned over to the <br />20 <br />city after a defined number of years. The current proposal is to turn the installation over to the <br />21 <br />city after 6 years. These types of projected are allowed under State Statute 471.345 Subdivision <br />22 <br />13 without following usual competitive bidding requirements. There are other requirements in <br />23 <br />the statute that must be complied with for these projects. <br />24 <br />Staff has contacted the other Minnesota manufacturer of solar panels for comparison of available <br />25 <br />options for their product. The City of Maplewood completed two installations of TenK Solar <br />26 <br />panels at their city hall and community center site last fall. They will be reviewing performance <br />27 <br />information from their installations in the near future and offered to share it with Roseville staff. <br />28 <br />Representatives from Powerfully Green and Newport Partners will be at the meeting for a short <br />29 <br />presentation and the subsequent staff discussion with the Council. <br />30 <br />PO <br />OLICYBJECTIVE <br />31 <br />The City Council goals and strategic directives include sustainability as a priority. Renewable <br />32 <br />power fits these goals and is also supported in the IR 2025 document. <br />33 <br />Page 1 of 2 <br /> <br />