Stuart Lavalier has been making improvements to his farm in northern Minnesota for years, but his latest addition is already a true cash crop. Lavalier’s Berry Patch and Orchard started off with strawberries and grew to include pumpkins, blueberries, honeyberries, lingonberries, cherries and apples. Now, the berry patch has one more money-maker: a 27.3-kilowatt solar array that zeroes out his electricity bill and adds to the farm’s income stream.
“We’re seeing a negative number on our electric bill,” Lavalier told Resource Rural. “We don’t have a huge electricity bill, but the solar covers it.”
In his first year with the array, he’s already seeing the benefit to the farm’s bottom line. “We’ve been getting a check back each month of about $300.”
