July 10, 2020 – West Bend, WI – Regal Ware, 1100 Schmidt Road, in West Bend will soon be home to a field of solar panels. The setup with We Energies is similar to the solar field just a couple blocks away on the corner of Creek Road and N. River Road.
Tyson Strankman from Sunvest Solar Inc. was on hand this week to answer questions as the West Bend Plan Commission reviewed putting solar panels on the grassy area to the east of the Regal Ware building and more panels on the roof of the building.
“It is about 6,186 solar modules,” said Strankman. “It is just a little smaller than the field on Creek Road.”
Half of the 40-inch x 60-inch panels will be installed on the ground and the other half on the roof of the Regal Ware building.
Strankman said the energy created will feed onto the grid and projections are it will generate enough to power 1,400 homes for a year. “Since Regal Ware is the closest load it will physically go into their plant but they will have to buy it back,” he said. “Otherwise it is basically a power plant that’s feeding the grid.”
Regal Ware is leasing the equipment from We Energies. It is similar to the agreement Washington County has with the solar field on Creek and River Road.
Strankman said there are currently no other plans on tap for any other solar panel fields in Washington County.
The timeframe for construction is expected to be fall 2020.