The City of Grinnell solar array is part of the Grinnell Solar Park project. Alliant Energy collaborated with four Grinnell, Iowa community partners to develop the 5 megawatt (MW) Grinnell Solar Park through their Customer-Hosted Renewables program, which allows businesses and communities to host solar farms or battery storage systems on their land in exchange for monthly lease payments.

The solar park is located on a former brownfield site on Grinnell's west side, where the partners collaborated with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to restore the land. Native grasses were planted to control erosion, filter groundwater, and provide habitat for pollinators and birds.

The City of Grinnell subdivided this restored site and sold tracts to three other partners: Grinnell College, the Mayflower Community, and Ahrens Park. Each partner owns their portion of the land within a single fenced area and leases it to Alliant Energy, which built individual solar arrays for each participant.

About the City of Grinnell

Located about an hour east of Des Moines, Grinnell is home to just under 10,000 people, as well as Grinnell College, a historic private liberal arts college. The City of Grinnell solar project will not only generate clean, renewable energy for the community, it will also yield an estimated $3 million in net revenue for the city over the projected 35-year project life span, which will help fund emergency medical services and city streets. 

Specifications

System Size: 801 kW DC / 625 KW

Modules: (3,648) Canadian Solar CS7N-685TB-AG bifacial

Inverters: (8) Solectria XGI 250kW @ 600V

Electrical Interconnection: 24.9 kV line

Racking & Mounting: ground-mounted fixed-tilt @ 20°