Jordan Beck | Daily Press The City of Escanaba’s solar energy farm, which is located at the Delta County Airport, is pictured. About two years after it began running — and a few months after a major expansion was finished — things have largely been going well for the facility.

ESCANABA — About two years after it began running — and a few months after a major expansion was finished — things have largely been going well for the City of Escanaba’s solar energy farm.

The facility, which is located at the Delta County Airport, started operating in the summer of 2018.

“We did our expansion this year, and that was completed in May,” Escanaba Electric Superintendent Mike Furmanski said.

The expansion, which added 1,440 solar panels to the facility for a total of 4,950 panels, cost the city about $580,000. It is expected to pay for itself in less than two decades by helping the electric department avoid some costs.

“We’re sticking with our original estimate, which is like 14, 15 years,” Furmanski said.

Furmanski said an inverter at the expanded facility — one of 21 in use there — has created problems for the electric department.

“One of the new inverters failed pretty quickly after installation, and it still hasn’t been fixed,” he said.

The inverter has been down for about two months now. A part needed to repair it was delivered last week, but the city is waiting for a contractor to return to the area to fix the inverter. Furmanski said he is hoping the inverter will be up and running again next week.

Aside from this, no major issues have been found at the facility.

“Everything else has been working well,” Furmanski said.

According to Furmanski, the facility is now capable of generating 10 megawatt-hours “on a good day.” Prior to the expansion, it could make roughly seven megawatt-hours per day under identical circumstances.

Generally speaking, solar energy output varies based on weather conditions and seasons.

“It makes more energy in the summertime, just because it’s a more direct hit on the panels,” Furmanski said.

Longer days during the summer months also help boost solar energy generation.

Unlike the panels installed as part of the original project, the panels included in the expansion are bifacial — that is, they are able to produce solar power from both their front and back sides. Furmanski said these panels should help offset some of the usual seasonal differences seen at the facility during the winter.

“We’re looking forward to this winter, to see how much glare we get from the snow,” he said.

Local residents have been able to get involved with the facility by buying solar panels of their own. So far, 598 panels have been sold. Currently, panels are being sold at a cost of $399 per panel.

“I don’t know if we ever really did a projection, but that’s a good number,” Furmanski said.

Furmanski said it does not matter to the electric department whether or not they sell panels to people living in the area.

“If the panels stay in city ownership, then it benefits every one of our customers,” he said.

On the other hand, if people do buy panels, it can provide them with financial benefits in the form of credits on their electric bills while not hurting other customers.

“It just offsets some of the energy we buy from our wholesale supplier,” Furmanski said.

Credits are paid based on an avoided-cost basis, in which panel owners are paid based on how much money the city’s electric department saves thanks to their panels. As of mid-August, credits are being paid out at a rate of 7.2 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Solar panel buyers have also been eligible for a 26 percent investment tax credit.

“We haven’t heard of anyone who has not gotten the investment tax credit from purchasing these panels,” Furmanski said.

People thinking about buying solar panels can learn more about the program by going to Escanaba’s utility office or visiting the city’s website at www.escanaba.org. Agreements between solar panel buyers and the city last through 2044.