Luther College dedicates Iowa's largest solar energy production - KWWL.com

Luther College's new $1.2 million solar energy field is the largest single solar energy production facility in the state of Iowa.

"We hope it's not the largest for very long," said Professor of Religion at Luther Jim Martin-Schramm.

The solar field is owned by Decorah Solar Field, LLC. The college is leasing it and plans to purchase it after seven years.

A dedication of the solar energy production facility was held on Saturday.

The field consists of 1,250 separate solar panels mounted in six different rows, and it creates enough energy for approximately 100 students who live on campus at Baker Village.

Baker Village is an all-electric student housing facility that uses geothermal energy for heating and cooling. It is the largest facility in Iowa powered by the sun.

"Our goal is that we want to reduce our carbon footprint by 50 percent by 2017, and 70 percent by 2020," said President of Luther Richard Torgerson.

Torgerson said he hopes the entire campus will be carbon neutral by 2030.