Minneapolis (March 9, 2016) – A first ever, free “Solar Speed Dating” event at the Minneapolis Convention Center April 2 is your chance to learn about community solar, learn basic skills for comparing different community solar offers and meet face-to-face with different developers to see if you can find the right community solar option for you.

Community solar is a way to link up with others in your area and share solar power, even if your home can’t be used to generate solar. So if you’re a renter, or if you own a house with a shady roof, or if your roof isn’t large enough to install a solar system, community solar may be a good way for you to join your neighbors and take advantage of solar.

Solar Speed Dating will be an exhibit located in the Seasons Room during the City of Minneapolis Community Connections Conference - Big Ideas: Your Minneapolis. The event is free and open to anyone. Advanced registration is encouraged. The Community Connections Conference runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Solar Speed Dating will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. A number of community solar garden developers will be there so you can do a round of “speed dating” with them to compare community solar offers and decide which is best for you. Representatives from Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) will also do a short presentation on community solar garden basics at 9:30 a.m. and again at 10:30 a.m. if you want to learn more. Representatives from Xcel Energy will also be on hand to share helpful info on energy efficiency.

Solar Speed dating is brought to you by CERTs, the City of Minneapolis, and NRG Energy through its partnership with Meet Minneapolis, Convention and Visitors Association, which is helping coordinate the solar event to support the City’s work and its partners work to make Minneapolis more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable.

ABOUT THE COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS CONFERENCE

Free to all participants, registration has opened for the fourth annual Community Connections Conference. The conference features three tracks:

• Kicking off Minneapolis 2040, a three-year planning process for the City’s Comprehensive Plan on such topics as growth, equity, resiliency, economic competiveness and civic technology.
• Planning for the future of neighborhood organizations and their roles in communities beyond 2020.
• Ways residents can connect with City leaders, find out how to serve on City boards and commissions, and engage Minneapolis’ diverse communities.

ABOUT MEET MINNEAPOLIS

Meet Minneapolis is a private, not-for-profit, member-based association. It actively promotes and sells the Minneapolis area as a destination for conventions and meetings, works to maximize the visitor experience and markets the city as a desirable tourist destination to maximize the economic benefit to the greater Minneapolis area.

Meet Minneapolis is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of the Destination Marketing Association International.

Find out more:

Online: www.minneapolis.org and http://go.minneapolis.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/meetminneapolis?ref=ts

On Twitter: http://twitter.com/meetminneapolis

On Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/meetminneapolis/

MEDIA CONTACT

Matt Laible, Meet Minneapolis Communications and Public Relations Manager 612.767.8220, mattl@minneapolis.org

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