The University of Minnesota Morris held a dedication ceremony for its expanded agrivoltaic array on Friday, Sept. 6.
The ceremony included remarks from Morris Campus Student Association President Riley Tollefsrud, University of Minnesota Regent Doug Huebsch, UMN Morris Vice Chancellor for Finance and Facilities Bryan Herrmann, and UMN West Central Research and Outreach Center Director of Operations Mike Reese.
Additionally, State Representative Paul Anderson and State Senator Torrey Westrom spoke about the role that the Morris campus and WCROC play in leading the state in sustainability.
The agrivoltaic array was constructed by the University of Minnesota Morris on dairy pasture owned by the West Central Research and Outreach Center. Agrivoltaics is the use of land for both agriculture and solar-photovoltaic energy generation. Funding for the project is being provided by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
With the addition of the 280kW of solar, this array is now 500kW, which is believed to be the largest dairy agrivoltaic field in the Midwest.
View the entire ceremony on YouTube