Bismarck, which sells hot tubs, has recently installed solar panels on its roof, making it one of the few companies that has decided to “become the sun” in a slow pace to receive this unique renewable energy.
Jerry Cowfield owns a spare space on Maine Avenue, east of downtown Bismarck, and sells gazebos, billiard tables and other products. He said the decision to install solar panels on the roof of the building was made twice.
“I do it mostly financially,” he said.
Solar panels reduce the monthly energy bill of Spas etc. and are expected to pay for themselves within 11 years.
“When the air conditioning and two or three hot tubs are running in the summer, that’s when I really benefit,” he said.
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The cost of installing solar panels varies according to the size of the project, but the typical practice at home or in a small business costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Solar panels are not a common sight in North Dakota, and the state is on the verge of falling nationally for solar energy construction. But the solar industry is growing, especially in Bismarck.
Workers with Bismarck-based Lightspring install solar panels on the main street, east of downtown, on Spas, etc.
Supplied, light
Jim Cambeitz is a co-founder of Bismarck-based solar company Lightspring, which installed panels on Spas etc. in October. Most of the company’s solar requests come from residents who are interested in installing panels on their roofs, but more and more calls are coming from businesses.
Camitz was recently busy quoting quotes from three companies.
“Sunlight does not work because misconceptions are cool here,” he said. “On average, we have more hours of sunshine per year than Florida. They are above the clouds.
Excessive electricity generated by solar panels on Spas, etc. is returned to the grid. Sometimes panels do not meet commercial use, and the building draws grid power through Montana-Dakota facilities.
Some of the busiest solar panels in Bismarck sit on the garages of four apartment buildings operated by Metro Plains. Craig Senson, executive vice president, said the company hired a Minnesota-based business four years ago to install panels.
Two of the plantations are located on a complex on State Road north of Bismarck.
“A couple of bank employees and other real estate professionals called me to ask why I was working,” Senson said.
He was an engineer and wanted to help the planet. Federal tax incentives have helped enforce the load, but he said there is a difference between North Dakota and Minnesota. Minnesota has state-level sunscreens. North Dakota does not.
He chose to install Metroplan Panels on his Bismarck assets.
“One part of me wanted a quick return,” Stenson said. But North Dakota has my heart. That’s where we started (the company).
So far in North Dakota, solar panels are very popular with homeowners and businesses. Although regulators allow a project in Cass County, the state does not have any major utility solar farms. Twelve solar farms in North Dakota are in the queue of two state-owned power grids awaiting engineering studies.
Wind farms looking to add renewable energy to their portfolios have become a popular option in North Dakota. But in recent years, some lawmakers and North Dakota coal miners have been embroiled in controversy over the wind industry and its federal tax credits.
In North Dakota, the largest coal-fired power plant at the Creek Creek venue, an unconfirmed announcement was made that McLean County would block solar power last year, but the backlash did not extend to the same level. Solar companies have expressed interest in building projects that will connect to the plant’s transmission line. The plant has since acquired a new owner who hopes to build a plant and add wind farms to connect it to the power line.
Tribal communities are just a few of the solar panels in the state. Lets Spring worked with the former Oil Workers at the Fort Bertold India Reserve, and partnered with United Tribal Technical College.
The largest solar plant in the state is at the Rock Six Reserve, and several rows of solar panels in a field near Canon Ball have a capacity of 300 kW – enough electricity to power up to 60 homes in the summer. Operator Indigenous Energy. Some utility solar farms planned for the state will have more than 600 times the capacity.
Although he wanted to work on larger projects, Lightspring did not participate in the larger consumption proposals. Kambeitz represents a major future for solar-powered projects around the state, not for large-scale utilities, but for small communities built by North Dakota.
“We need to create as many North Dakota companies as possible to participate in the energy economy in the future,” he said.
Contact Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com.
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