Wichita, Khan. (KSNW) – Call it a growing trend. Butler says why not collect electricity from the sun. Kansas gets a lot.
Butler Electric can also immediately save more than 5% of electricity prices for customers. Now he is working on a fourth farm, and they say, ‘The future is pretty sunny.’
To the south of Anderver, you may not see it, but it is a one-megawatt solar farm covering eight acres[8 ha].
“Solar is part of a solar mix,” said Tim Lindahl, general manager of the Butler Electric Cooperative. “We believe in all of the above. We have a little bit of everything. ”
Lindahal uses coal, nuclear power, and hydroelectric power to supply power to homes in many counties.
The additional use of four wind farms, owned by Berler Electric, is helping to stem the tide of high customer demand.
“Our members and spouses are experiencing immediate relief,” Lindahl said. There is also a long-term benefit to compensate for future price increases.
In terms of supply, last summer, from a number of energy sources, they hope their solar farms will stabilize their supply to customers.
The farm is still free of Kansas snow and wind.
“It’s all software-built, so if we have a significant wind event, they’re really not as flat as they might think, because they create that kind of wing, so they get in the way they are now. , ”Said Lindahl.
Panels, like Kansas sunflowers, can be programmed to follow the sun for high energy.
And when some people complain about the appearance of a sun farm, they use Kansas trees to grow around the plant.
“We planted good trees, so hopefully, in a few years, people will travel and they will never realize that the farm is here,” said Saturn Madden, Butler Electric.
Butler’s next big push studies battery storage to help grids in extreme weather conditions.