Board

Polk County Begins Solar Power Installation on Facilities

Published 7/16/2024 12:12:43 PM

Des Moines, IA- On Tuesday, Polk County Supervisors approved funding for the first phase of the installation of solar panels on county-owned buildings. The $2.3 million dollar investment will be a major step forward in the effort to reduce the county’s carbon footprint 90% by 2040.


The first phase of the solar initiative will pay for the installation of solar panels at three locations. Those include: Polk County Administration, North Side Community Center and River Place. This investment will result in an energy savings of $5.1 million over the next 30 years at these three facilities alone.

Polk County Administrator John Norris says, “This is Polk County leading the way on investing in energy savings and reducing our carbon footprint. Not only will this result in energy cost savings for taxpayers for years to come, but it signals our commitment to transitioning from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.”


Polk County’s climate action team is also weighing other investments to reduce the county’s carbon footprint which include enhanced HVAC systems at facilities as well replacing county owned vehicles with an electric vehicle (EV) fleet and installation of EV charging stations.


With Tuesday’s unanimous board approval, installation of the first phase of the solar panels will begin in August. Additional solar panel investments at other Polk County facilities will be evaluated as we look to meet our carbon reduction goal by 2040.