Taconite capital of the world studies solar potential across entire community

Craig Wainio: In 2012 the city installed a 20 kW ground-mounted solar array behind City Hall using Silicon Energy panels, which were manufactured locally at the time. The nearby Merritt Elementary School also has a ground-mounted solar array out front. In addition, the city already shares much of the information about our own progress and what people in the city can do on our website.

The City of Mountain Iron is also a step two member of the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program and has a bronze designation for being solar-ready through SolSmart.

We wanted to do more to look at solar across the city and what was possible. We received a Northeast CERT Seed Grant that allowed us to study solar potential across the City of Mountain Iron.

Craig Wainio: The project was shared with the city council and the broader community and had a positive reception. We also shared the report with the other entities involved such as the Mountain Iron-Buhl School District and the Arrowhead Library Service, who were very interested in solar. Finally, we shared the report with a handful of utility-scale solar developers. The report was received extremely well and will guide solar development in the city for years to come!