A year after the 1910-vintage Banks Building in Minneapolis's Warehouse District installed a tenKsolar array on its rooftop, the savings are already starting to show up.
Dan Schaffan, who is the building's property manager, says that owner
Schafer Richardson wants to find ways to save energy that go beyond building maintenance.
When Schafer Richardson looked at the holdings in its portfolio, the five-and-two-story office complex turned out to be the most doable in terms of solar power. "You have to consider things like the age of a roof," Schaffan says.
The solar array cost the company about $13,000 to install, though it would have been closer to $65,000 without the subsidies that it was able to get, he says.
Although it takes almost a year to show results, the solar array saves the building about $3,500 a year in electrical charges. At that rate, the technology will pay for itself in about four years, he says, adding that it's expected to last 30 years.
He says the company likes this system because "[The panels] sit on top of the roof with some ballasts. They're designed to stay on top of the roof even during strong winds....They collect solar energy and turn it into electricity, using a converter."
The company has an agreement with
Xcel Energy, which will buy any extra solar power that the array generates.
The building's tenants have been supportive. "All of the tenants are concerned about the common area's maintenance charges and what the owners are doing to lower their cost," says Schaffan.
Source: Dan Schaffan, building property manager, Schafer Richardson
Writer: Anna Pratt