Nick Fetty

For the Press-Citizen

Iowa has developed a reputation as a national leader in wind energy but the future also looks bright for solar energy in the Hawkeye State.

Farmers Electric Cooperative opened the state’s largest solar farm in July, consisting of 4,900 solar panels across 41/ 2 acres in Kalona, about 25 miles southwest of Iowa City. Recently the Solar Electric Power Association named the 650-member, Frytown-based cooperative a national leader in solar energy because of its “cumulative solar capacity of more than 1,800 watts per co-op member,” according to the report.

“It’s nice to be recognized for your hard work,” said Warren McKenna, general manager for Farmers Electric Cooperative. “(SEPA is) a big organization, an international organization, so it’s a huge honor.”

SEPA commended Farmers Electric Co-op not only for its 800-kW solar farm but also for smaller projects on residential sites as well as farms. Farmers Electric has installed solar arrays for public and private entities, including the Iowa Mennonite School and Washington Township Elementary School as well as the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort.

Farmers Electric also has worked closely with Amish and Mennonite communities in southeastern Iowa, a region that has one of the largest concentrations of such communities west of the Mississippi River. While the Amish and Mennonites generally do not use electricity or telephones in their homes, Amish and Mennonite farmers near Kalona have allowed the installation of solar-powered phone booths and individual solar modules to help with their operations.

McKenna said Farmers Electric has not seen a major spike in membership since the solar farm opened over the summer, but there has been an increase in the number of solar projects. This can partially be attributed to the fact that the cost to produce and install solar equipment has dropped in the last few years. McKenna estimated that the cost has gone down between 30 percent and 40 percent over the last five years. He also said the solar modules have become more efficient in producing energy, going from 235-watt modules as the standard to 275-watt systems.

Bill Haman, the renewable energy program manager for the Iowa Energy Center in Ames, said he also has noticed an increase in solar projects across the state.

“The number of solar installations in the state has exploded in the last two years,” he said. “Most of these solar arrays that are being installed are relatively small arrays. They’re residential or farm-scale in size rather than the utility-scale.”

The Iowa Energy Center opened in 1990 and is administered through Iowa State University. It serves as a source for information about renewable energy and energy efficiency as well as a financier for qualifying projects. The center also provides funding for energy research, working closely with Iowa’s three regent universities as well as private and community colleges across the state

Earlier this year, the Iowa Environmental Council released a report outlining the potential of solar energy in Iowa. The report points out that despite the harsh winters, Iowa’s technical potential for solar energy production ranks ahead of southern states such as Georgia, South Carolina and even Florida.

Haman said that many of the solar projects in Iowa are on the east side of the state while wind energy is more abundant in western Iowa, particularly in the northwest corner. Alliant Energy is one of the major utilities in Iowa with many of its customers on the eastern half of the state. Alliant offers rebates for solar projects and Haman cited these rebates as another reason for the recent increase in solar projects.

“It took motivation other than economics to justify constructing a system but now with the prices competitive with renewable alternatives it makes sense,” he said.

In addition to the rebates offed by Alliant, federal and state tax credits are also available for qualifying solar projects. However, these tax credits are scheduled to expire at the end of 2016, which leaves McKenna and Haman uncertain about the future of solar projects in Iowa. McKenna said the Iowa Solar Energy Trade Association has been established and works at the state-level on issues such as the tax credits.

“It’s pretty critical that they stay active at the state level once these tax credits disappear. I don’t know where the industry is going to go but the next two years is pretty critical,” McKenna said.

In the meantime, there are several solar projects planned in Iowa in the near future. Though he was not able to discuss specific details, Haman said a project is coming to far north-central Iowa which is expected to surpass Farmers Electric as the largest solar array in the state. If and when the tax credits expire, Haman said funding from grants such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) may be available to help subsidize the cost of future projects.

Regardless of the outcome with the tax credits, McKenna is confident that solar energy will continue to have a right future in Iowa.

“We’re working hard down here to help our customers save money and solar’s one way to do that,” he said.

On the web

•To read the Solar Electric Power Association’s report about Farmers Electric Cooperative, go to www.solarelectricpower.org/media/230417/SEPA031-SolarOPs-Study_FEC_0914.pdf.