Construction has begun on the 150 MW solar park in Wood County, Wisconsin which Alliant Energy is working on, on approximately two square miles of land and is the first of 12 solar park projects Alliant is implementing in Wisconsin. The company was able to uproot the remains of the trees harvested in the spring and level the land. The site’s construction manager stated that once an area is leveled, short, pollination-friendly grasses will be planted where the panels will be installed – empty areas specifically targeting species such as the monarch butterfly will support the species.
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Solar panels will convert enough solar energy to power approximately 40,000 homes and generate income of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the area through the Wisconsin Utility Aid Act for Host Sites of Solar Energy. Rickaby said they received this money and a lot will go towards repairing and maintaining the roads. Rickaby said he has only received positive calls about the project from local residents so far. As soon as the questions were answered, they supported the project. Now they are investigating how the project could further build on the local economy.
“We will only switch to renewable energies, this country will only switch to renewable energies, which means we are really looking to the future here and we believe that it is best for our customers and we are very excited about it, very excited. It’s a nice little program that benefits the habitat and is actually a little bit of care for us; there is less maintenance on the road so we don’t have to mow all the time, ”said site manager Erik Jensen.
