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0 • • Power co -op offers crowd - funding for solar SOLAR FROM D1 should begin in February. It will be the first communi- ty -owned solar array in the na- tion that also features batter- ies to store electricity-for use when the sun is down. For $869, an investor could buy one solar panel and its output. Nikula said 17 custom- ers signed up, purchasing from one to 27 panels each. Christian said he and his wife purchased 15 panels, and he expects it will take 12 or 13 years to pay them off. After that, most of their electricity will be free, he said. "I look at it as prepaying for electricity," said Christian, who considered solar panels atop his townhouse, but the owners' association didn't allow it. Under the terms of the deal, Clean Energy Collective will set up a trust to cover main- tenance and repairs over 50 years. If a solar investor moves out of the Wright - Hennepin service area, his ownership in the array could be sold to an- other co -op customer. Wright - Hennepin CEO Mark Vogt said the co -op intends to build additional solar arrays with the same group financ- ing if customers want them, and that seems likely. A sur- vey of 160 metro -area co -op members by wholesale co- op Great River Energy found that 32 percent of homeown- ers were somewhat or very interested in installing solar power. At least 40 U.S. solar proj- ects have used customer fi- nancing or "crowd - funding" to raise money, said Joy Hughes, founder of the Colorado -based BRUCE BISPING • bbisping @startribune.com This test solar -panel array is at Wright - Hennepin Cooperative Elec- tric, which plans to start building the actual array in February. nonprofit Solar Gardens Insti- tute. Such projects often are called solar gardens. Solar Mosaic, an Oakland, Calif. -based company that re- ceived a $2 million U.S. En- ergy Department grant, last week launched an online ser- vice that lets anyone invest in solar projects across the coun- try, offering traditional returns in dollars. Economies of scale Advocates of community solar say that bigger solar ar- rays benefit from the econo- mies of scale, tax credits and other incentives. Many peo- ple who are interested in so- lar can't install systems be- cause they are renters or their homes have too much shade. Colorado passed a law two years ago to encourage com- munity solar. This year, 13 customer-financed solar ar- rays are underway in parts of that state served by Xcel Ener- gy, based in Minneapolis. Xcel, which is Minnesota's largest power company, has not created a similar program in this state but says it is dis- cussing the idea with legisla- tors and others. Solar investments often have long payback periods that don't attract traditional investors. David Schmidt of Corcoran, who purchased one of the Wright - Hennepin solar pan- els for $869, compared the pur- chase of clean energy to oth- er consumer choices — such as picking a restaurant — that aren't made solely on price. "I try to think of the quality of the electricity, not just the cheapest," he said. Schmidt said he didn't want to invest in a solar array on his family's home, partly because of the expense. He also won- dered about resale. "If I am the next homeowner, maybe I do or maybe I don't want solar," he added. Thomas Sweeney, chief op- erating officer of Clean Ener- gy Collective, said custom- er-financed solar arrays help utilities achieve state renew- able energy goals with little capital. "It also allows them to have a product that customers are asking for," he said. Unlike Xcel in Colorado, Wright - Hennepin is not of- fering a community solar sub- sidy. Yet the project poses a built -in revenue loss for the co -op because solar output displaces electricity on which the utility otherwise would make money. Battery technology by Si- lent Power of Baxter, Minn., will store solar- generated electricity from the Wright - Hennepin array and put it on the grid hours later. Niku- la said the system is likely to be used to release stored pow- er from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., when sunshine is weak or nonexis- tent, and customer demand soars, especially in the sum- mer. Wright - Hennepin offi- cials believe this "load shift- ing" will save money on peak - price wholesale power, offset- ting the revenue loss from so- lar. The co -op also is an inves- tor in Silent Power. Christian, the Maple Grove homeowner, said the mix of innovative storage technol- ogies and locally made so- lar panels from TenKSolar in Bloomington appealed to him. "It's all bundled up in a nice, easy -to -use package and I don't have to get my hands dirty," he said. David Shaffer • 612 - 673.7090 Twitter: @Shaffer5trib