Antigo Public Library Solar Project is Underway!

FOR ANTIGO TIMES

Jolma Electric has begun installation of solar panels and electrical equipment at the Antigo Public Library. The library is installing a 91.02kW solar electric system with 42.4kWh of battery storage. The system is estimated to produce 107,600 kWh/year and will provide more than 50 percent of the libraries energy needs.

On August 14^th crews arrived to begin work and were here for two weeks getting most of the work on the roof complete. They will return later this week to continue that process and to do more work on the electrical equipment inside the library. The Solar Panels are expected to be tested and commissioned for operation in October of this year. 

When the project is complete there will be 222 Solar 4 America panels installed with each module having a 410W output. Three Sol-Ark 30K inverters will be installed. This is a hybrid inverter that will back up an emergency load for the library. Most of the time it will work as a grid-tied inverter and back feed any excess energy back to WPS under their net-metering policy.

In the spring of 2022, the library was awarded a $229,450 grant from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s Energy Innovation Grant Program. The project is also support by the Antigo Public Library Foundation, Inc. who will be assisting with project costs not covered by the grant. Work behind the scenes began in earnest in September 2022 to get the proper identifying numbers to receive grant funds and find support for the library to administer the grant to make the dream a reality.

In January of this year the library board approved a contract with the Legacy Solar Co-Op to work with both the board and Ada Demlow, the library director, in managing the bidding process and the grant. The Legacy Solar Co-op is dedicated to solar projects in Wisconsin communities and provides support and services for many aspects of the solar journey. They were also part of the solar project completed at the T.B. Scott Library in Merrill. You can learn more about them at https://legacysolarcoop.org/

Library Director Ada Demlow said she is very excited to see this long-awaited project move forward and is thrilled to be working with the teams at Legacy Solar and Jolma as solar energy becomes a reality for the Antigo Public Library.