Final Report- Local Energy Matters: Solar Development in Duluth, Minnesota
- Ecolibrium3, Duluth, MN (United States)
The Local Energy Matters project advanced solar deployment in the City of Duluth, MN- a cold-climate community of 86,000. At the beginning of the project, Duluth had 254.57 kW installed solar capacity with an average cost of 5.04 USD/watt installed in 2014. The project worked with cross-sector stakeholders to benchmark the current market, implement best practices for solar deployment and soft cost reduction, develop pilot deployment programs in residential rooftop, community solar, and commercial/industrial sectors, work with the City of Duluth to determine appropriate sites for utility scale developments, and demonstrate solar pus storage. Over the three years of the project, Duluth’s installed residential and commercial solar capacity grew by 344% to 875.9 kW with an additional 702 kW solar garden capacity subscribed by Duluth residents, businesses, and institutions. Installation costs dropped 48% over this timeframe to 4.08 USD/watt installed (exclusive of solar garden construction). This report documents the process used to identify levers for increased solar installation and cost reductions in a nascent cold-climate solar market.
- Research Organization:
- Ecolibrium3, Duluth, MN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S). Solar Market Pathways (SMP)
- Contributing Organization:
- Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth, MN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0006908
- OSTI ID:
- 1436577
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-Ecolibrium3-6908
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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