When investing $1-$2 million per acre in solar panels, one tends to focus on the benefits directly generated by the new hardware — 100% fuel-free energy with no moving parts. However—simply by using the right seed mix—each of these sites can also provide significant agricultural benefits related to storm water, soil, and crop pollination.
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A personal and pragmatic passion for clean energy
Dr. Raj Rajan is a Fresh Energy board member and local leader in energy sustainability who understands the economic value in clean energy and investments.
Fresh Energy to partner with the Department of Energy on national solar workshop
Fresh Energy is proud to announce that it will partner with the U.S. Department of Energy to host a National Community Solar Partnership workshop in 2016. Building off of a National Community Solar Summit at the White House on November 17, the workshop will convene solar companies, nonprofits, and state and local community leaders who are working to expand community solar in the Midwest.
October 28 | Using Solar PV to Save Pollinators
In 2016 Minnesota is poised for a large solar bloom — likely more than 4,000 acres of ground-mounted solar will be built. That’s a piddling 0.01 percent of Minnesota’s 26.9 million acres of farmland and will generate less than two percent of the state’s electricity. But for bees, monarch butterflies, and all pollinators, it will provide a world of good.
J. Drake Hamilton meets President Obama in the White House
The President invited Fresh Energy’s science policy director, J. Drake Hamilton, to join him at a small group meeting in the White House prior to his historic announcement of the single greatest step the United States has taken thus far to combat climate change.
Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2013-14
Fresh Energy Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2013-14