With utility prices on the rise, solar panels becoming even more popular

Many businesses and residents previously bought solar panels to demonstrate their social and environmental responsibility and save some money on their monthly bills or at least break even. But now, with utility rates continuing to increase dramatically, many energy consumers are trying to hedge against inflation, and Cedar Creek Energy in Blaine is seeing a record number of solar-panel installations as a result.

It doesn’t surprise the president and CEO of Cedar Creek Energy. Rob Appelhof knows firsthand that commercial and residential consumers alike throughout Minnesota are seeing the attraction of gaining financially while being socially aware.

“It’s a win-win for all,” Appelhof said. “For instance, on the commercial side, if a business sees that its return on investment (ROI) is five years and most of our solar-panels have a performance warranty of 25 to 30 years, a business knows it’s going to have a great financial return for 20-25 years while addressing social and environmental concerns as well.”

With many of its residents opting for solar energy, communities are doing their best to ensure that net metering laws remain favorable to solar-panel installation.

“We’re fortunate that Minnesota’s net metering laws favor the consumer, which means when they have excess power, utility companies buy it back at the retail rate, not the wholesale rate, which some states use,” Appelhoff said.

Solar-energy storage is also experiencing high growth right now, Appelhoff said. This means, given Minnesota’s unpredictable winter weather, solar consumers can be protected in the event of grid failure. Solar consumers can fill their batteries (which cost extra) with excess energy and use it if power is lost.

Municipalities and nonprofits are getting in on the energy savings, too, through power-purchase agreements (PPAs). Although not typically able to take tax credits and depreciate at tax time, PPAs let third party groups take over the project, take the tax credit and depreciation, and pass the savings back to the municipality or NPO through discounted energy rates.

“A wastewater operator from the city of Becker, for instance, was looking for new ways to lower the city’s energy costs and noticed a solar array (farm) Cedar Creek Energy had completed,” Appelhof said. “He consulted Cedar Creek Energy and Becker was able to set up a solar array with no upfront costs through a PPA. After six years, the city will have the opportunity to purchase the array in full. This effort will save Becker about $100,000 in utility costs and reduce its carbon emissions by almost 900,000 pounds per year.”

Cedar Creek Energy has been at the forefront of skyrocketing growth in solar farms as well. The company has been leading the way in developing “community solar gardens” for small, rural communities who seek the cost-savings and the good environmental stewardship solar energy produces.

Community solar gardens are springing up everywhere in Minnesota, Appelhoff said. These are centralized arrays of solar panels that users subscribe to and then get credits for on their monthly bills.

Cedar Creek Energy has been in business locally for 15 years, a lifetime for this type of business. One of the reasons for its continued growth and success is that unlike out-of-state competitors, who walk door-to-door offering neighborhoods inexpensive solar systems, Cedar Creek Energy knows local, state and federal laws and it is also skilled at maintaining a system once it’s installed.

“We have separate divisions for both commercial and residential solar installation, and each division has its own employees, and they service what they install. We have the best warranties, we use only the highest quality materials and products, and we never use outside subcontractors for our work. When you use Cedar Creek Energy, you’re getting one of the longest tenured, local companies in this business.”

This article was presented and sponsored by Cedar Creek Energy. For more information, go to cedarcreekenergy.com