InsideTrack briefs: Minnesota outpaced the nation in solar jobs in 2017

Minnesota bucked the national trend in solar energy employment in 2017, posting the second highest job growth by state.

Nationwide, U.S. solar energy industry employment fell by 4 percent or 9,800 jobs, according to a report released Wednesday by the Solar Foundation. It was the first decline since the foundation began tracking jobs in 2010.

Total U.S. solar employment was 250,271 last year, with the majority of those jobs in installation.

In Minnesota, solar employment grew 48 percent last year, hitting 4,256 jobs, according to the foundation. Only Delaware had a larger growth rate: 51 percent. "Minnesota was one of our brightest states in 2017," said Avery Palmer, a spokesman for the Solar Foundation.

Minnesota's job jump is rooted in the state-mandated Community Solar Garden program, which finally bloomed last year after many delays. The state had 58 community solar gardens up and running in December, compared to only 10 a year earlier.

Xcel Energy administers the solar garden program, which was created in 2013. It's aimed at residents, businesses and governments that want solar energy without setting up their own rooftop arrays. Instead, they subscribe to larger arrays operated by independent companies that connect to Xcel's grid.

The Community Solar Garden program had the capacity to produce up to 211 megawatts of electricity in December. A megawatt is 1 million watts. Overall, the state added 467 megawatts of solar in 2017, enough to power 53,000 homes, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

Mike Hughlett

Maple Grove-based Caisson Interventional, a medical device firm that specializes in heart valves, is expanding its facility by 30,000 square feet over the next few months and an additional 50 jobs.

Caisson received a $359,850 grant to help fund the expansion from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and is privately investing $750,000, according to a Tuesday announcement.

Paul Buckman, general manager for transcatheter mitral valve replacement at Caisson, said the company employs about 50 people in a 12,000-square-foot facility.

"As we've grown as a small organization, we started running out of room," Buckman said.

The new jobs will be created within three years and pay wages averaging $32.71 an hour, according to DEED's statement.

"The grant certainly helps us," Buckman said. "It makes it easier to stay in Minnesota."

The grant, contingent on Caisson meeting certain investment and hiring requirements, came out of the Job Creation Fund, a program started in 2013 that encourages local businesses to apply for specific project funding.

"This success story is made possible in part by Minnesota's Job Creation Fund," Gov. Mark Dayton said in a statement.

Olivia Johnson

"GreenSight is redefining precision agriculture by packaging automated drones, custom sensors and machine learning into a turnkey service. to deliver customers the ultimate in irrigation management technology for golf courses and beyond," said James Peverill, CEO of GreenSight Agronomics in a news release. "We are excited to partner with Toro."

Bloomington-based Toro, which didn't disclose terms, likes GreenSight for its turf grass technology and plans to integrate it with its Lynx Central Control system that helps golf course and turf managers monitor water usage.

"As the golf industry expands its efforts to improve play and more efficiently use water, the application and advancement of technology will play a vital role," said Philip Burkart, vice president of Toro's irrigation and lighting businesses.

GreenSight pairs thermal imaging technology with military grade drones to monitor turf conditions and respond to pests, funguses, and water needs.

Toro also expects the aerial data gathered with GreenSight technology to complement its PrecisionSense products that probe the soil for moisture, compaction and salinity measures, as well as Toro's Turf Guard wireless soil sensors.