Farmer warms up to solar energy

Apr 6 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Brian Ojanpa The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.

For decades, Daryl Guentzel has used the sun to produce his harvest. Soon he'll be harvesting the sun itself.

"I don't have a lot of great intelligence," the Eagle Lake farmer says, "but I can add."

And by his arithmetic, converting his operation to be exclusively powered by Old Sol is a no-brainer.

He says at first he wasn't interested in the concept, but the more he spoke with those knowledgeable about it, the more he came around.

"What they said sure seemed to make sense."

Not to mention cents. Lots of them.

The 84-panel solar collection system being installed at his farm has a retail cost of $132,000. But if his combo platter of energy grants is fully realized, the cost will be...

"About zero," says son Mike Guentzel, whose bullishness about the ag-related potential of solar power has led him to become an area representative for ecojiva, BOjanpa 4/5/12 cq lower case an energy solutions company based in Michigan.

The Guentzel farm will be the first in the Mankato area to be totally powered by solar, but ecojiva President Sridhar Ayer says it won't be the last.

"I predict that in 10 years 10 percent of (U.S.) farmers will be using renewable energy systems."

He says the reason rests in large part with the monetary incentives for switching to renewable energy.

In the Guentzels case, a $45,000 grant from Xcel Energy coupled with an anticipated federal government grant could make the project's cost a wash. The incentives are tied to the government's renewable-energy advocacy policies.

Solar energy production on American farms has increased significantly in the past decade. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey, 8,000 farms have installed solar systems.

Though the Guentzel farm will remain hooked up to the conventional power grid, the 20 kilowatt solar system will provide the farm with all its power needs -- and then some.

Any excess energy can be sold back to Xcel, in effect turning the sun into a cash crop. The system gathers energy even on cloudy days.

Mike Guentzel figures the system will save the farm $3,500 to $3,700 a year in electricity costs.

It takes 12-15 weeks to install a system such as Guentzel's, which is expected to be fully operational by May.

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