State Nebraska Bank & Trust began looking at the possibility of using solar power at the two bank locations in late 2022.
"George Phelps had used a company called GRNE Solar (which is now Nelnet I believe), and had a good experience with them," said Matt Ley, CEO of the bank.
The firm connected Ley to an expert in the field to help with the USDA as they had solar credits for businesses and individuals to help with the project.
"We did our due diligence here at the bank in early 2023, and found that our expected repayment would be 10 years; seven years if the USDA grants were approved (which happened in October 2023)," Ley said.
He noted that the estimated life of the panels is 25 years.
"While originally we were hoping to sell some of the electricity back to the City (which is an option), our buildings are pretty large compared to total roof space, with longer average usage."
"The solar panels should provide about 30% of our total electricity needs," Ley said
The installation process began in late December 2023 and should be completed later this month.
"We are super excited to both save some money and help the environment – a win-win!" Ley added.
