Solar microgrid built in Decatur County

GREENSBURG, Ind. — A solar microgrid system in Greensburg is expected to generate enough emissions-free clean energy to offset nearly 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

That’s the same amount produced from driving 5 million miles.

Emergent Solar Energy, located in the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette, created the system for the Corya System PCF crop production facility.

It consists of a 65-kilowatt, bifacial ground-mount solar array plus 30 kilowatts of energy storage with a natural gas and propane backup generator.

It also includes charging stations for electric vehicles that will replace the farm’s gas-powered vehicles over time and further use clean energy production for their operation.

Jeremy Lipinski, managing partner at Emergent Solar Energy, said it is the company’s first design with multiple sources of power generation and energy storage.

“This microgrid solution uses solar energy plus energy storage along with being connected to the REMC, or Rural Electric Membership Corp., utility grid,” Lipinski said.

“It optimizes the farm’s energy use of the lowest-cost source of energy at any moment, thereby reducing the energy costs and fixing an increasing input.”

Learn more about Emergent Solar Energy at emergentsolar.energy.