When you think about the ideal type of renewable energy in the Northland what comes to mind? Maybe wind amid the gales of November? Despite the windy and snowy Halloween weather residents and businesses that utilize solar power are still reaping the benefits. The owner of Frost River Trading, Chris Benson, says solar power is a real contender.

“The reality is we really are a strong sun and solar opportunity area geographically,” Benson said. “The other thing I really like about solar panels is they’re maintenance free. They just sit there and you leave them alone.”

Frost River Trading Co. have an estimated 140 solar panels installed around and on the roof of their building. They’ve been up & running for about a year now. Benson says to break even, the business only have four-and-a-half years to go in order to do so.

“With our solar panels and the energy that we make, we have a bidirectional meter. On a sunny weekend in Duluth, we make more energy than we’re able to use,” Benson said. “So that actually gets spun back out on the grid and goes to our neighbors. And Minnesota Power pays us back for the energy we don’t use.”

He added that the solar panels are virtually maintenance free, which keeps the cost down after the initial install. Thanks to the summer sun the company hardly had an electric bill for the last few months.

“When you’re dealing with wind turbines or other things, there’s more maintenance associated with them,” Benson said. “But since we have the solar panels installed, they just sit up on top and they deal with the rain and the snow and everything else and just keep making energy.”

Since Frost River Trading made their switch to solar, it’s been business as usual, even going into the busy holiday season.

“I think we’re more mindful of our energy consumption. So when possible, we upgrade to sewing machines that have motors that use less energy,” Benson said. “Because ultimately, it’s a finite amount of energy that you’re able to produce off the roof.”

For more information about solar panel installation in Duluth you can read more here. Also for the story about Frost River Trading Co.’s solar panel journey you can read more here.