More than 60 solar panels are up and running at Ramsey County's The Ponds at Battle Creek Golf Course, the latest step by the county to power its entire park system with renewable energy.
The photovoltaic panels, which will produce enough energy to power the Maplewood golf course and its clubhouse, were built and installed at no cost to the county. Instead, Ramsey County will pay the vendor, iDeal Energy, for the first 12 years of power generated at the site. After 12 years, the county will own the panels and the power generated outright.
The county will still see immediate savings, because the energy costs of the panels will be less than what the county is currently paying Xcel Energy, said Ryan Ries, project manager for the Parks and Recreation Department.
"It's still a win for us," he said.
The panels are expected to save the county more than $240,000 in energy costs over 40 years. They will cut about 119,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every year, said Parks Director Mark McCabe — the equivalent, he added, of 6,000 gallons of gasoline.
The county recently installed 124 solar panels on top of the Parks Department's administration building in Maplewood. The panels, while not quite enough to cover all energy needs of the building, offset most of the costs.
The panels at the golf course and the administration building will give the county real-time data on the savings, costs, challenges and benefits of using solar power, McCabe said.
"These are basically two pilot programs that will give us the data we need for a much bigger push," he said.