Lake City Catholic Worker Farm in southeast Minnesota is a working and teaching farm that offers learning experiences, year-round growing facilities, and many charitable resources to its community. Recently, it has added sustainable power generation capabilities and an attractive shade structure to its grounds.
The site now has a three-pole solar mount installed by EPF Solar. The Minneapolis-based renewable energy systems provider has installed and developed numerous solar and wind projects over more than two decades. With expertise in implementing solar for agriculture and commercial properties, and a streamlined design process from MT Solar, EPF Solar configured a powerful, robust mount that’s perfectly suited to the property’s farming and community outreach operations.
The top-of-pole mount holds an array spanning nearly forty feet across, comprised of 28 modules in seven columns and four rows. Front-edge ground clearance of eight feet gives Lake City Catholic Worker Farm many options for utilizing the space around and below the mount. The mount’s wind rating of 102 MPH and snow load capacity of 50 PSF ensure it will stand strong and remain productive throughout the harshest Minnesota weather.
Getting the mount in the ground and fully operational was speedy and smooth, which is notable at any time, but especially during a winter install. Ken Valley, owner and president of EPF Solar, was impressed with the ease of installation.
“We have experience with various types of solar arrays and systems, and this product seemed to be the most user-friendly to install and operate. The system did install as expected and was brought online in a minimal amount of time. The designing of the project allowed for numerous possibilities to provide the customer the best design for the install.”
“The designing of the project allowed for numerous possibilities to provide the customer the best design for the install.” – EPF Solar Owner and President, Ken Valley
The system has advanced Lake City Catholic Worker Farm’s power capabilities and resilience, and also improved EPF Solar’s ability to enhance similar properties. As Ken expressed, “The system opens up additional options for our customers, mainly in the agriculture market.”
Seeing solar installers simplify their processes, deliver great results to their customers, and broaden their impact by bringing sustainable solar to more sites is always encouraging for us at MT Solar. We’re pleased to see such a successful project come together for Lake City Catholic Worker Farm and EPF Solar.
| Array Specifications | |
|---|---|
| System Size | 28 Modules |
| Array Configuration | 4 Rows x 7 Columns |
| Ground Clearance | 8 Feet |
| Snow Load | 50 PSF |
| Wind Load | 102 MPH |
| Tilt | Seasonally adjustable for optimized production |
| Foundation | 48-inch square, 7-foot deep, concrete embedded |
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