Roof Mounted Panels
kWH/year Energy Produced
lbs CO2 Emissions Saved/Year
Savings over 25 Years
Project Inspiration
K&K Recycling is a locally owned and operated metal recycling facility in Minneapolis, MN. Our journey with K&K began in 2016, when a chance phone call ended in a partnership that would span the next 7 years and counting!
K&K is passionate about recycling and being good stewards of the earth’s natural resources. When the company learned all the benefits of solar in 2016—and how attainable it was for them, we wasted no time getting to work. Though K&K wanted a large rooftop array, they also planned on completely replacing part of the roof in the next few years.
How would Cedar Creek Energy rise to the unique challenge?
Our Approach
Knowing that there was no sense in installing a rooftop array for only the next 2-4 years, Cedar Creek Energy carefully designed an array that would maximize production on the part of their roof that wasn’t being replaced and leave plenty of room for another installation down the road. In addition, swapping out fluorescent lighting for cost-effective LED lights created a maintenance free, 10-year savings plan, significantly lowering their monthly utility bill. We installed this array with an east/west orientation on their flat roof, with a system size of 215.8 DC kWh. In its first month, the system produced enough energy to save K&K $6,400.00!
Fast forward to 2021: One of our project developers that worked on the first project learned of a lucrative grant that K&K would likely qualify for and reached out to them to see if their new roof had been installed yet. The timing was perfect – The roof had just recently finished completion, and their grant application was accepted. So, we got to work on installing a second array on the other side of their newly pitched roof – a 282.4 DC size system with a 10-degree tilt to maximize production.
The Final Result
K&K Recycling now boasts a total system size of 413.3 AC / 498.2 DC, which produces an estimate of 600,000 kWh annually, a whopping 80% offset of their energy usage. This clean energy production prevents nearly 800,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions from being produced and released into the atmosphere. That is roughly the equivalent of 15,338 bags of waste recycled instead of landfilled – a very relevant metric for K&K recyclers!
The company is growing rapidly and already expanding its operation, and our solar systems have helped fill their need for additional power. K&K is a well-known and respected business in the community and is proud to continue to serve its residents in their quest towards a more sustainable future!
Our friends at K&K are very happy with their solar arrays and our service here at Cedar Creek Energy. When it came time to install their second system, CFO Linda Hull said, “There wasn’t any question as to what company we would go with… Cedar Creek Energy.”
Client Feedback
“The solar panels have made a huge impact on our electric bill and we know we are helping lower our carbon footprint. We also had CCE replace all of our fluorescent lights in the entire building with LED lights. Between the solar and the LED lights, we feel we have made dramatic progress lowering our electrical consumption and dramatically lowering our monthly utility bill.”
–Linda Hull, CFO, K&K Recycling
