In 2013 the State Legislature enacted the creation of a Community Solar Garden Program to significantly increase the production of clean energy.

Blueprint:

• Public utilities must dedicate a minimum of 1.5% energy production by 2020 (450 MWs)
• No limits on number of installed solar gardens in Minnesota
• No single solar subscriber is permitted more than 40% usage on a single solar site
• Each solar subscriber is limited to 120% of average annual capacity
• Each solar garden is required to have a minimum of 5 subscribers
• Solar subscribers must be physically located in a county or adjacent county to an operating solar garden
• Each installed solar garden is permitted a maximum energy capacity of one (1) Megawatt (MW)