It was nearly a year ago when Bob Gagner and his wife Chris Bennett-Gagner had solar panels installed on the roof of their Coon Rapids home. They had their contractor put up a total of 18 panels split between two areas on their roof.
"Our major goal is to help the planet,” Bob Gagner said. “And one way we can do that is promote and encourage others, so we purposely put these five panels here so that others would see them as they walk by and drive by."
The energy they're generating from the sun can be tracked on an app on their smartphone.
Coon Rapids saw its first solar installation back in 2017 and, since then, 120 solar projects have been installed across the city.
"We now have prevented 8,646 pounds of CO2 going into the air,” Gagner said. “And that's the same as if we had planted 65 trees to clean the air. And that's just going to continue year after year."
Bob Gagner encourages those who want to learn more about solar to do their research. One way is to check out the solar energy resource page on the City of Coon Rapids website. There are also federal tax rebates offering homeowners up to 30% back for solar installations. And for those who want to finance their project, they can apply for a low interest loan through the City.