The clinic is halfway through the installation of a 462-panel solar array; the solar power system, the Rochester Post-Bulletin reports, will be able to produce between 150,000 and 200,000 kilowatt-hours of energy each year. That's enough to power between 15 and 20 average American homes.
The array, located on a parking facility in downtown Rochester, is being built with the help of a solar rebate from Rochester Public Utilities. The Mayo Clinic, RPU general manager Larry Koshire said in April, is the first business to take advantage of the utility's rebate program.
"Lower cost and ease of installation are quickly making solar energy a more realistic renewable energy choice," Koshire added.
Once this array is finished, the clinic may study the viability of other renewable-energy installations. More solar is a possibility, and wind power could also be tapped. "Ideally," Mayo Facilities project services division chairman Don DeCramer said to the Post-Bulletin, "this would be the start of multiple projects."
