Several speakers discussed solar power from various perspectives during the September 25 Iowa School Energy Conference in Ames.
Tyler Puls of Des Moines Public Schools discussed his district’s experience with a school-owned solar project, while Julie Weisshar of EAIS talked about two other solar models available to schools: Power Purchase Agreement and the Customer-Hosted Renewables Program.
ISU’s Anne Kimber capped the day by discussing ISU/Alliant Energy’s 1.375-megawatt solar farm featuring 3,300 solar panels capable of powering 200 homes.
Kimber and her colleagues then led attendees on a tour of the site, the first solar farm in Iowa to incorporate agrivoltaics. Both Alliant Energy and ISU’s agriculture department are conducting research on both the energy production and food production side of the equation to better understand the symbiotic relationship that might exist in producing both food and energy on the same swath of land.
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