The city participates in Xcel Energy’s community solar garden program. Multiple city buildings, street lights and water systems are subscribed to receive solar energy from community solar gardens, which reduces the city’s carbon footprint and has significant cost savings.
Environmental benefits
- The amount of energy the city receives from its solar garden subscriptions is comparable to planting 800 trees or removing 700 cars from the road each year
- More than 350,000 gallons of gas or 8,500 barrels of oil would be required annually to generate the same amount of energy.
Financial impact
- Minnetonka’s commitment to solar is projected to save approximately $500,000 per year, or $12.5 million over a 25-year period.
- The city’s only cost to subscribe to Xcel Energy's community solar gardens is $18,000 per year for energy consultants who develop and track the solar garden contracts for the city.
Sol Smart partnership
The city is working with with Sol Smart, a national organization that provides no-cost technical assistance to help cities and other government organizations make it faster, easier and more affordable to go solar.
