Fair board member Don Lewis explains the solar power project at the Washington County fairgrounds in 2013. Photo by KCII’s Sally Hart.

The Washington County Fairgrounds, local school buildings, and many area producers all have something in common – the use of solar panels to create energy. According to the Iowa Department of Revenue, Washington County is number one in the state, as of 2014, in the number of solar energy systems and project value in Iowa. Washington County had 88 projects with over $700,000 in tax credits between 2012 and 2014. While, according to the 2009 U.S. Census of Agriculture renewable energy production survey, only 40 farms had a total of 564 solar panels in the state of Iowa.

Last summer, Iowa’s largest solar farm opened near Kalona with Farmers Electric Cooperative and Eagle Point Solar partnering on the project. WACO Elementary School began using its solar panels last month in Crawfordsville. The school’s initial estimates project energy bills to be cut by up to 90 percent. And the fairgrounds incorporated solar panels in July of 2013 to make the fair more eco-friendly.

Iowa Mennonite School and Mid-Prairie also use solar panels.

Arvid Anderson turns the solar panels on. Photo by KCII’s Sally Hart.

For more information about solar energy use in Washington County click here for Washington Economic Development Group’s page.